Prime Rib or Standing Rib Roast

Prime rib used to refer to a prime grade standing rib roast, but these days all rib roasts (and some rib steaks) are called prime rib regardless of the USDA grade it received. The rib roast cut is usually so good that it doesn't need much seasoning. The ingredients I use are simple: a standing rib roast, salt, and pepper.

Preparation is also quite simplistic for an entree with such a grand reputation. In fact, with a couple tools, this dish is easier to prepare than any other special event food (roast duck, turkey). The items you'll need are a roasting pan (usually comes with your oven or you can get a large baking pan and a wire rack to place in it), a probe thermometer (like the Polder model that I use), some kitchen twine, and a pair of tongs.

Hmmm, now you need a standing rib roast (also known as prime rib even if the beef isn't prime quality). The term "standing" means that because the bones are included in the roast, the roast can stand by itself. A rib roast with the bones removed is commonly referred to as a rolled rib roast. My preference is for the standing variety because the bones provide additional flavoring to the roast. A rib roast comprises of seven ribs starting from the shoulder (chuck) down the back to the loin. Each rib feeds about two people, so if you have a party of eight, buy and cook a four rib roast. The rib roast closest to the loin is more tender than the rib roast nearest the chuck. This end is referred to as the small end rib roast or loin rib roast or sirloin tip roast. The chuck end of the rib roast is bigger and tougher and is sometimes referred to as a half standing rib roast or large end rib roast.

Depending on preference, you can dry age the roast for a few days to bring out additional flavor and produce a more buttery texture in the muscle (aging allows the natural enzymes to break down some of protein in the meat). Age the beef up to a week in the refrigerator by leaving it uncovered on a wire rack over a large pan to catch any drippings for at least a day and no more than seven days. When you are ready to cook the beef, trim off any dried pieces after the aging. It is common for a roast to lose about 10% to 15% of its weight during a week of aging.

Take the rib roast out of the refrigerator and let it sit on the counter for a couple hours to raise the roast temperature to near room temperature. To help cook the roast evenly, we'll need to tie the roast. Using kitchen twine, tie the roast parallel to the rib bones at least at each end. I usually tie between each pair of ribs. Heat the roasting pan or a separate pan on the stove until hot with a little oil. Place the roast on the pan and sear for three minutes on each side. Remove from heat and season heavily with salt and pepper. Place on the grill of your roasting pan or on a wire rack. Now stick the probe of your thermometer into the roast so that the probe is approximately in the middle of the roast (and not touching a bone). Position the pan on an oven rack in the lowest position of your preheated 200°F oven. Yes, 200°F. The low heat will evenly cook the roast so that most of the roast will be at the desired temperature. Cooking at a higher temperature will finish the roast faster, but you will probably result in well-done on the outside of the roast that gradually results in a medium-rare interior (if you are trying to cook a medium-rare roast). Roasting at 200°F will result in almost all the meat ending at medium-rare.

Set your thermometer for 130°F for a medium-rare roast (125°F for rare; 145°F for medium; any higher and it's overdone - you might as well be serving a cheaper piece of beef). When the roast is done (about 45 minutes per pound up to about 5 pounds - anything larger takes roughly 4 to 5 hours), remove from the oven, set the roast aside, and let it sit to redistribute juices for at least twenty minutes. This is a good time to make a jus from the drippings of the roast.

Pour off any extra grease that's collected in the pan. You can save this to make Yorkshire pudding if you wish. Now deglaze the pan by pouring in 1/2 cup beef broth and bring to a boil. After you've scraped off the bottom of your pan and mixed it into the jus, season with salt and pepper. Simple.

When slicing the roast, first cut the rib bones out and then lie the roast on the cut side to carve large slices off the roast.

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When properly roasted, the medium-rare pink is uniform to the edges of the roast, giving the diner the maximum amount of tender, juicy beef per slice.

Do engineers in your part of the world use Fahrenheit? Sounds exotic to a person living in the metric world.

On December 20, 2005 at 02:47 AM, Michael Chu said...

Okay, there's been a lot of commentary on slashdot and other sites on why a REAL engineer would use FAKE / LAME units. This is the only response I'll give.

In my mind, a real engineer is capable of working with whatever is given to him. A good engineer might not do an exact sixteenth decimal place conversion, but a good engineer will know when a precise conversion is necessary and an imprecise one is acceptable. Most engineers are capable of working in whatever unit constraints are provided them and can think in US, metric, or SI. I have conversations with engineers from other countries routinely where we will both use inches, microns, degrees celcius, and pounds in the same conversation.

I happen to live (and cook) in the United States where we use a weird system involving seemlingly random and confusing units. So, I present my recipes with these units because I will be using these units when I cook.

Now scientists on the other hand are a different breed from engineers and will require SI units...

On December 20, 2005 at 02:48 AM, an anonymous reader said...

For the Yorkshire pudding, you have to ensure the fat is really hot before you add the pancake mix (which is all that yourshire pudding is) - hot as in at the point of smoking.

Also if you don't have dripping, use lard. Don't use butter.

On December 20, 2005 at 02:48 AM, an anonymous reader said...

I don't tie my roast, or sear it.

I use a 250F oven.

I slice under the layer of fat that is traditional on the outside of the roast and slip slices of garlic clove between the fat and the meat. I also do this with any 'center' fat - pierce between the fat and the meat with a knife and slide in garlic.

Then I make a mix of herbs, cracked pepper, and course grain 'kosher' salt. I roll the meat in this mixture, creating a crust. Then I place it bones down into a baking dish and bake until medium rare.

On December 20, 2005 at 02:48 AM, an anonymous reader said...

The above additions for a tasty crust sound yummy!

I have made Yorkshire pudding in individual portions using a 12-portion muffin pan with 1 teaspoon of pan drippings/muffin cup per the Good Housekeeping cookbook recipe.

Great site, Michael!

On December 20, 2005 at 02:49 AM, an anonymous reader said...

regarding the SI units topic...

My high school physics teacher would sometimes throw in problems using English units because he wanted the students to be able to solve problems using any kind of units, so he would probably agree with you here.

He did tell us a funny story of a one student who was against using English units. In protest, the student would convert any English units given to metric, solve the problem, then convert back to English units for the answer. =)

On December 20, 2005 at 02:49 AM, ACO (guest) said...

English, Metric, IS... all the same. Sure, depending on wich hemisphere or influence zone you're in, one gets used to one or another metric system.

As an engineer one is prepared to work in either system, but that also depends on tool graduation. I always use the KISS principle to work, trying to get good results in a short time. Converting units from a system to another is time consuming, so is better for me to work with raw units, be those celsius, fahrenheit, kelvin or rankine.

This recipee also looks tasty, I'll try to try it before year's end.

keep it up, mike.

KISS: Keep It Simple & Stupid

On December 20, 2005 at 02:49 AM, Alredhead (guest) said...

This is my family's traditional Christmas meal...hmmm I can smell it now!

(I have an enormous piece in my fridge right this minute, just waiting to be cooked and eaten!)

Mr. Cho, Merry Christmas to you and yours!

On December 20, 2005 at 02:49 AM, an anonymous reader said...

I think you should post the temperatures in Kelvin. Your stove DOES do Kelvin, right?

On December 20, 2005 at 02:50 AM, cynicalb_repost (guest) said...

Just did a prime rib last night for Christmas Eve dinner - our roast was just a shade under 10 lbs. For the rub I used approximately 2 TB whole pepper and a scant 1 TB whole allspice; ground this in a mortar, added approximately 1 1/2 TB kosher salt, about a half-dozen garlic cloves, finely minced, 1/4 cup Dijon mustard, 1 TB dry mustard, and about 1 TB maple syrup. Mixed this together well, coated the roast with it and let is sit for about 1 1/2 hours before roasting. If I would have had more time, I would have let it marinate for a few hours more. Started it at 450F for 20 minutes, then lowered the heat to 250-275F until the internal temperature registerd 125F. Total cooking time was about 3 hours. Came out perfectly medium rare in the middle, with the end cuts at medium. The end cuts have a nice zing to them from the rub, while the middle slices had just enough seasoning without being too spicy.

On December 20, 2005 at 02:50 AM, an anonymous reader said...

Me again, stealing your recipes! They are excellent, that's why I keep coming back.
As an editor, I wish you would use the supercript o with F or C, with a space after the degrees number.
Also, what would help lots of us in uniformizing would be to use Tbsp for tablespoon and tsp for tsp. But this does not hurt one bit your excellent recipes.
Thanks!
Caroline

On December 20, 2005 at 02:51 AM, an anonymous reader said...

I don't believe an editor would use a word such as "uniformizing".

On December 21, 2005 at 02:29 PM, guest cook (guest) said...

Subject: How do I re-heat it, if I make it ahead?

The cooking time is 3-4hours for the standing rib roast. If I dared to make it the night before, how could I re-heat it without ruining the rare-ness of it (the microwave cooks too well done from the inside out)

Any tips are appreciated - I am a first time S.R.R. cooker!! thanks

On December 21, 2005 at 03:08 PM, NAFortis said...

Good morning, Michael. In re Cooking temperature: In his "American Cookery" copyright 1972, chef James Beard offers a <preheated 180 to 200 degree oven> slow-roast method for standing rib, BUT he specifies "...roast without basting for approximately 23 to 24 minutes per pound, until it achieves an internal temperature of 120 to 125 degrees for rare meat; ..."
Your method specifies a far longer time per pound. How say you to Beard's time/pound? [I have not tried ANY low-heat method, only sear and temp reduce, etc]

Best regards & Happy Solstice: Nick F.

On December 21, 2005 at 04:57 PM, Michael Chu said...

NAFortis wrote:

...James Beard offers a <preheated 180 to 200 degree oven> slow-roast method for standing rib, BUT he specifies "...roast without basting for approximately 23 to 24 minutes per pound, until it achieves an internal temperature of 120 to 125 degrees for rare meat; ..."
Your method specifies a far longer time per pound. How say you to Beard's time/pound?

My estimate of 45 minutes per pound comes from how long it takes my 200°F oven to bring an eight pound roast to an internal temperature of 130°F. I took the totla time and divided by eight pounds. This has held true for the last two roasts that I prepared. (Usually, I tell my guests to show up at a certain time and that dinner will be done when it's done. I start preparing the final touches of the other dishes when the roast is sitting at 125°F - the last few degrees always seem to take forever.)

The extra ten degrees may account of some of the time discrepancy, but I doubt that it would double the time. I don't know what to say except, in my experience it takes closer to 45 minutes per pound to bring the roast to medium rare. Of course, I've always suspected that the minutes per pound estimate is a really bad hack as it's unlikely that the time it takes to heat a volume of meat is linear and predictable (what if my roast has more surface area than your roast?)... but that means a series of experiments that I cannot afford (both from a time and a money stand point) at this time in my life...

On December 21, 2005 at 05:31 PM, NAFortis said...

My thanks for your prompt response, Michael. And, indeed, the WEIGHT makes quite a difference, I'm sure. When I get very wealthy <it is to laugh>, I shall try experiments with roasts of approximately same geometry <and loin end, of course>, and approximate weights of, say, four pounds (2rib...tricky), six pounds (3rib) and eight pounds (4rib).

Your site is a total pleasure. Nick F.

On December 21, 2005 at 10:30 PM, darrell (guest) said...

Subject: prime rib

I have a 14 lb prime rib (boneless) that needs to be cooked dec 24. I would like to seare it first at 450 for approx 25 minutes then reduce the heat to 250. I would like it cooked to a rare or med rare. I have no clue on any time estimate, can someone give me advice or help for my meat . I don't want to waste a lot of money or have Christmas eve dinner a disaster.
PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On December 22, 2005 at 12:12 AM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: prime rib

darrell wrote:

I have a 14 lb prime rib (boneless) that needs to be cooked dec 24. I would like to seare it first at 450 for approx 25 minutes then reduce the heat to 250. I would like it cooked to a rare or med rare. I have no clue on any time estimate, can someone give me advice or help for my meat . I don't want to waste a lot of money or have Christmas eve dinner a disaster.

I recommend you go to Bed Bath & Beyond or your local home kitchen supply store and buy a probe thermometer like this Polder model. Thrust the probe into the thickest part of the roast (parallel to the direction of how you will slice it in order to minimize the chance of having slices with holes in them later). Program the thermometer to go off before your desired temperature (taking into account carryover temperature during the resting period). With a 250°F oven, I recommend setting the thermometer to 128°F. After the thermometer goes off, pull the roast out (leave the probe in) and tent with aluminum foil and let rest about 30 minutes (the final temperature should peak at just above 130°F - I expect about a three to four degree upswing in temperature when roasting at 250°F).

Now, timing is going to be a bit tricky with a roast that big... My semi-educated guess is that you'll need an additional 4-5 hours after your first roast at 450°F (less time if you left the roast in the oven during the cooling period when the oven temperature is dropping to 250°F.

You can also opt to finish the roast early, and then drop your oven to as low of a temperature as you can (mine goes down to 170°F) and keep the roast there to keep warm. When it comes time to serve, pull it out, let it rest for thirty, and serve.

On December 22, 2005 at 10:20 AM, Iain McQueen (guest) said...

Subject: Rib Roasting

I have only recently found this site, and have been much amused and informed by the bacon studies!
However the Rib Roast of 5KG looms for Boxing Day with some Claret and company. What I am fascinated by is the meat thermometer probe. Unfortunateley Polder can't be had in UK, but I shall have to seek an equivalent? What is the probe wire made of to resist the temperatures of the hot oven as it snakes out, presumably through the door seal?
Probably I won't find a thermometer in time for 26th Dec, but any help on sourcing similar in UK would be a help for next time.
Great fun site!
Iain
(I suggest Donald Russell Direct for UK beef)usual disclaimer

On December 22, 2005 at 03:23 PM, SALJUSTME (guest) said...

Subject: Rib Roasts

Hi I was reading your cooking method of a rib roast. I too cook it the way you do but I also rub the meat with a little Kitchen bouquet before I put in oven. I also use th eslices of garlic under the fat. Just thought you might want to try it.

On December 22, 2005 at 03:31 PM, Mindy B. (guest) said...

Wow, I love this site! Very helpful, as I do not want to ruin an expensive cut of beef. I have never heard of slow roasting prime rib, only heating to sear, then turning the oven off. I'm thinking slow roasting is the way to go. Thanks for the info.

On December 22, 2005 at 04:58 PM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: Rib Roasting

Iain McQueen wrote:

What I am fascinated by is the meat thermometer probe. Unfortunateley Polder can't be had in UK, but I shall have to seek an equivalent? What is the probe wire made of to resist the temperatures of the hot oven as it snakes out, presumably through the door seal?

Any equivalent probe thermometer should work. I believe Kitchen Craft and Taylor both make products for sale in the UK.

This one is available from Amazon.co.uk but I'm not sure you'll be able to get it in time for Dec. 25. You may have to go to the old standby of opening the oven door and shoving a thermometer into the roast every half an hour after the first couple hours.

I'm not sure what the probe wires are made of exactly. It looks and feels like the actual wires that conduct electricity are protected by a metal mesh that wraps around an insulator around the wire. The insulating substance is unknown to me. The cable does lead from the probe through the oven door seal to the thermometer unit.

On December 22, 2005 at 05:47 PM, dmiller (guest) said...

Subject: rib roast of beef

Excellent site. My own experiance w/ the standing rib is very consistant w/ your recipe recomendations. I prefer to pre-heat to 500 degrees F, turn down to 200 degrees F , then place roast in oven v. the pan sear method. Reading the comments on cook time, I think you need to build your own data based on experiance ( engineering judgement). The ratio of surface area to mass, surface to center distance, bone configuration are all variables. Starting temp of the roast is a significant variable as well, although this one is under your control. For a first time chef, for meal planning purposes, I recommend 30' per pound for roasts under 6 lbs. 40 min for 8 lb. and up. You MUST monitor temp w/ an internal probe to determine actual degree of "doneness".:)

On December 23, 2005 at 08:02 AM, Awbnid (guest) said...

Subject: Re. Guest Cook's pre-cooking question

Guest cook:

I don't think anyone here would *recommend* pre-cooking your bad-a** standing rib roast, but sometimes one has to make concessions to the world.

I have found that your best bet is to probably cook it, let it rest until cool, and then slice it into the portion sizes you have in mind. Then the next day heat your oven to somewhere between 300oF and 400oF, place your slices between very large leaves of cabbage, then put the cabbage/cow packages into the oven on top of a rack placed within something to catch drippings.

How long? That's the tricky part. Until they are hot. For some reason, though, the cabbage keeps the slices from browning on the outside while they get nice and toasty.[/i]

On December 23, 2005 at 01:40 PM, jody@livelyhealth.net (guest) said...

Subject: Help!!??!!

Just came upon your website and although my roast is similar to some...I need help! Standing rib, 7 bones, 19 1/2 pounds!! I want to cook slow method at 250 degrees. How long do you think it will take?? Should I start today?? (: Would I be better off cutting it in half? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

On December 23, 2005 at 01:48 PM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: Rib Roast

Help! I have a 14 lb Standing Rib Roast and have no clue how to roast it. I feel I have read too many recipes and am extremely confused. Could someone give me a good clear recipe/ instruction to follow? I would appreciate any help. Thanks in advance.

On December 24, 2005 at 10:33 AM, Cat Blue (guest) said...

Subject: 1st Timer... Loving the Engineer-style Recipes w/comments...

Wow... as a former wannabe engineer turned to first love, music/singing/teaching (which really is engineering through and through)...

I was just innocently looking for research notes on the 'perfect' Prime Rib recipe (again) and I googled myself here and got sooo much more...

I am in total awe to witness such a marvelous site as this. I do have the analytical mind (to a fair extreme) surrounded by linear and 'anti-linear' thinking... along with a yearning for visuals, graphs, etc... love the photos and recipe cards.

And, I am LOL ('cuz I soo relate)... the 'engineerist' commentary, criticisms, and especially the temptations for further research and development... I am just baffled by those who forego the research for lack of proper funding? I was always led to believe that I would have had a far wealthier outcome as an engineer (compared to the 'starving' artist route I passed through). I'm wondering what happened... or what else is taking up all that funding that couldn't allow for a few to several prime ribs?

Thanks in metric and all other sorts of measurably huge amounts,
Cat
p.s. If the post is +/- 3:33pm Christmas Eve 'there'... it's 7:33am here... Curious to know where 'you' are... I'm an ex-wife/now better friend of a UK native (about 8 hours forward from us). In fact, he will be sharing the Rib Roast with me later today... and with far more laughs than when we were married.

On December 24, 2005 at 11:34 AM, ClaytonT (guest) said...

Subject: Cooking a 14 lb boneless rib eye roast?

:)

I'm not an engineer and I don't play one on tv, but I'm married to the daughter of one and hopefully that counts for something.

My question is;
I've read a lot about cooking rib roasts at the traditional 350 method. Has anyone tried the approach of searing at a high temp, then slow cooking at 200-250? This is supposedly the best approach for cooking a roast that is consistently cooked all the way through.

I've read a lot about cooking rib roasts at the traditional 350 method, and just read about the slow cooking 200-250 degree method. Given the two methods, what's the best approach for cooking a roast that is consistently cooked all the way through and tender??

My boneless rib eye is 14lbs.[/b:cb2777c9f4]

Quote:

I'm not an engineer and I don't play one on tv, but I'm married to the daughter of one and hopefully that counts for something.

My question is;
I've read a lot about cooking rib roasts at the traditional 350 method. Has anyone tried the approach of searing at a high temp, then slow cooking at 200-250? This is supposedly the best approach for cooking a roast that is consistently cooked all the way through.

How long will it take a 12 lb standing rib roast (short end) to cook to rare to medium rare at 250 degreesin a convection oven?
Thank You!

On December 24, 2005 at 05:15 PM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: Question about a "tied" boneless prime rib roast

Hi, I have a 4lb boneless prime rib roast. It came from the butcher tied together with a string "netting". What is the best way to cook it? I wanted to rub it with cracked black pepper & crushed garlic....Do I do this with the netting on it & then cut it off before serving? Or would it be better to remove the string netting, rub it & retie string around it in a few places?
Thanks in advance!
Sue

On December 25, 2005 at 07:55 PM, Michael Chu said...

This reply is probably much too late to help anyone in their Christmas dinner in 2005 (sorry, I was out with my family on vacation - actually I still am on vacation...)

In answer to the last several questions (in random order):
The best recipe I know of for roasting a prime rib is the one detailed in this article - hands down, no competition.

How long do you need to cook a 12, 14, 19.5 lb. rib in a 200°F, 250°F, or X°F conventional or convection oven? I have no idea - sorry. Please see my earlier comment on the difficulty in assessing the exact time of doneness and the reliance on a probe thermometer. You can do what great prime rib restaurants do - cook it early and then keep it warm for in a really low temperature oven (170°F or lower if your oven can do it).

String nettings? If you want to add a spice rub, remove the netting, apply the rub, and then retie between the ribs.

I hope everyone is having a Merry Christmas regardless of how your standing rib roasts came out. :) It's all about being with family, friends, or your community, right? Speaking of which, mine is calling for me to return to them...

Oh, by the way, I'm in the U.S. Pacific Time Zone. I believe the forums default to GMT if you haven't set your time preferences in your profile.

On December 26, 2005 at 08:48 AM, Guest (guest) said...

Subject: THANK YOU!!!

In the interest of adding to your data on various sizes of roasts and cooking times: I cooked a 4.11 lb. Ribeye Roast at 200 degrees F for 3 hours. I removed it from the oven when my quick read thermometer registered 128 degrees because I like my meat just slightly under medium rare. The meat was exactly to my liking - though I did not see the 10 degree rise in temperature that was supposed to have occured while my meat was resting for 20 minutes. Thank you for your excellent web site. I love your logical approach to cooking.
Signed -- The wife of an engineer in Ohio.

On December 26, 2005 at 09:51 AM, Eric (guest) said...

Subject: Standing Rib Roast Cooking Time

I ran into the problem of redicting how long it would take to cook the roast. My instructions were to have the 7 lb standing rib roast ready and med-rare by 4pm on Xmas day. Different recipes and instructions all seemed to give inconsistent cooking times. So my scientist neice and I decided to collect some data so that we would have some info to go on next year. Here's our experience. We recorded all temperatures using a Williams-Sonoma temperature probe with remote readout. All measurements were taken with the probe inserted to the center of the roast. Our oven is a standard GE electric oven - no convection.

I pulled the roast out of the fridge one hour before cooking time. During this time the center temperature barely changed: started at 43 F and after one hour it was 45 F. No surprising, but clearly the phrase "getting it to room temperature" more of a saying that truth.

I first cooked the roast for 10 minutes at 450 F. The temperature increase picked up. After 10 minutes we were at 47F.

I then lowered the oven setting to 250 F and let it roast slowly. Now the center temperature really began heating up and at a relatively constant rate. From 47 F to about about 100 F the rate was about 1.5 min/deg F. After 100 F it begins to slow at bit, but not dramatically. I had an average rate of 1.9 min/F toward the end of the oven time. We pulled it out when the probe hit 125 F after an oven time of 2 hours 41 minutes (10 min at 450 F, 2 hr 30 min at 250 F).

Average cooking times were:

23.1 min/lb to get to a center temperature of 125 F
21.8 min/lb to get to a center temperature of 121 F

The surprising part of this was how much the center temperature increased after we removed the roast from the oven. I had read in one recipe that it would increase 5 F and in another recipe that it would increase 5 to 10 F. We saw an increase of 13F up to 138F. This occurred over a period of 43 minutes.

I was a bit concerned that the 138 F center temperature would push me past our goal of med-rare and squarely into med territory, but 138 F seemed perfect. The meat was evenly pink throughout and plenty tender.

For future reference, I plan to stick with the 450 F / 250 F method and to estimate times using the average cooking rates above plus an allowance of 45 minutes "set up time" after it comes out of the oven.

Happy eating.

On December 27, 2005 at 04:44 AM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: THANK YOU!!!

Guest wrote:

The meat was exactly to my liking - though I did not see the 10 degree rise in temperature that was supposed to have occured while my meat was resting for 20 minutes.

Following the recipe detailed above, you should not have much carryover temperature increase. It might increase 1-2 degrees. Carryover temperature increases are caused by having a temperature gradient within the roast causing the interior to continue to rise in temperature while the exterior just begins to cool. The 200°F roasting method has very little difference in temperature from the very center to the semi-center, so not much carryover cooking occurs.

On December 27, 2005 at 07:30 PM, zx9rblue said...

Subject: Outstanding

I hoist my whiskey glass to you Mr. Chu,
Excellent recipe. We followed the instructions as posted.
8 lb'er and it turned out perfect. I had so many compliments.
Cooking time was about an hour less than calculated using a coventional natural gas oven.
Next time I do this I will grab the data logger from work and instrument the cooking process.

On December 28, 2005 at 04:43 PM, paul (guest) said...

Subject: what to do with the leftovers

Any recommendations for how to reheat the leftovers from a standing rib roast??

On December 29, 2005 at 02:58 AM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: what to do with the leftovers

paul wrote:

Any recommendations for how to reheat the leftovers from a standing rib roast??

Reheating without cooking the roast further is a difficulty. Slice off the amount of roast that you want to reheat, slip into a Ziploc bag, seal, and drop into hot tap water (about 120-140°F). The water will gently reheat the meat without pushing it into well done status (like a microwave oven would). The amount of time it takes to reheat to eating temperature varies depending on the thickeness of cut and how cold it was when you started to warm it up. Exchange the water even ten minutes or so to keep the water temperature up.

On December 29, 2005 at 10:46 AM, also anonymous (guest) said...

Subject: no whine!

Man, engineers are a whiny bunch. Just cook! (I realize humor may have been intended but....) This is a good recipe.

On December 29, 2005 at 12:01 PM, Maria Elena (guest) said...

Subject: How to cut the Prime Rib with Bone?

I read your excellent detailed recipe, I am also an engineer..I am wondering how do you slice the meat piece after cooking it.Do you have to remove the bone first?..how do you do that?
Thanks

On December 29, 2005 at 03:46 PM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: How to cut the Prime Rib with Bone?

Maria Elena wrote:

I read your excellent detailed recipe, I am also an engineer..I am wondering how do you slice the meat piece after cooking it.Do you have to remove the bone first?..how do you do that?
Thanks

Yes, remove the bones first by cutting along the inside of the ribs around the rib roast itself. If you have a small roast, you can cut off all the ribs at once, but if your roast is very large, then you may need to cut off thee or four at a time. After the ribs have been removed, you can separate the ribs by splitting them with a sharp knife (just run the knife between the ribs). These are seriously delicious pieces of meat for the more adventurous party members (meaning - guests who don't mind getting their hands dirty).

Once the ribs have been removed, take the roast and start at the cut end, use a long sharp knife and slice the roast. The slices can be thick or thin, but should be cut straight across the roast. (Two ends of your roast came already cut, just follow the same direction of cut and work your way across the roast.)

On December 30, 2005 at 04:59 PM, padthai4me (guest) said...

Subject: Another log on the fire...

Lots of methods,times & temps abound. As an engineer, I was inspired by an old issue of Cooks Magazine. They did the complete matrix experimentally, buying 20+ rib roasts and cooking with all the permutations people seem to use. The hands-down winner (they compared to the best restaurant roast), was a few minutes to brown on the stove, then in to a 200-degree oven until 130 or so for medium rare. There will be little or no temp runup during resting. It comes out perfectly uniform from end-to-end and from outer to inner, no Medium spots. I've been using this for 8 years and never had anything less than rave reviews.

Pad

On January 01, 2006 at 01:58 PM, Larry (guest) said...

Subject: Pan choice

If you sear on top of the stove first, (I have a nice big cast iron skillet), then would you put the same cast iron skillet into the oven or switch to a nice shiny roasting pan? (If the latter, I would assume save the skillet, deglaze later and add to the other pan drippings for jus or gravy).

Also, if switching to a roasting pan, do you lightly oil the pan first or not?
Or do you brown on the stove in a roasting pan rather than cast iron?

On January 02, 2006 at 08:19 AM, Tony D (guest) said...

Subject: what a great roast!

You have a great site. The replies have been great in helping me evaluate the options and prepare a wonderful New Years day meal. Since really good engineers share data, here is some input for the file. I used a bone in roast that started out just below 6# and aged it for 6 days in the fridge covered with cheese cloth. At cooking time it weighed 5.5#. At 1 1/2 hrs out of the fridge it only rose to 47 F. I browned it on all sides in a pan, rubbed it with garlic and seasoned with salt and pepper. In a shallow, ceramic pan, on a rack and with a 225F oven the internal temp rose to 127 in 3 hours, about 26 degrees per hour. After 45 minutes of resting, temp was 132. The ribs were trimmed off for eaier slicing. The first cut revealed a perfect, juicy, medium pink center. One of the guests liked theirs more done than rare so I put an end slice under the broiler, cut side up for more doneness. The flavor and taste was everything hoped for and all of my guests could not believe how good it was. The two bottles of Shiraz may have helped. It served six people (about 1/2" to 3/4" slices) with a little left over. This recipe is a keeper and will become a New Years standard for us. Thanks to all the contributors who helped make this possible.

On January 02, 2006 at 02:33 PM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: Pan choice

Larry wrote:

If you sear on top of the stove first, (I have a nice big cast iron skillet), then would you put the same cast iron skillet into the oven or switch to a nice shiny roasting pan? (If the latter, I would assume save the skillet, deglaze later and add to the other pan drippings for jus or gravy).

Also, if switching to a roasting pan, do you lightly oil the pan first or not?
Or do you brown on the stove in a roasting pan rather than cast iron?

I usually sear on a different pan than the one I roast on. You can definitely use the same pan, but remember to elevate the roast on a grill so the drippings can fall into the pan (away from the roast).

I do not bother to oil the pan that I am searing on. When you sear the roast, just let it sit for a minute or two on each side. When that side has seared, it will release from the pan easily.

This was one of the first articles I wrote for Cooking For Engineers. Upon rereading it, I think I'm going to have to rewrite parts of it and add more information (and definitely a lot more pictures).

On January 07, 2006 at 10:23 AM, Ty (guest) said...

Subject: 2 standing ribs

:huh: silly a question as it may be...what is the cooking time @ 200F if I have two 6.25lb standing ribs in the roater???

On January 09, 2006 at 01:47 AM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: 2 standing ribs

Ty wrote:

what is the cooking time @ 200F if I have two 6.25lb standing ribs in the roater???

I've only done two roasts at the same time once. That time, the roasts took the same amount of time as when I roast one - about 45 minutes per pound - so about 4-1/2 to 5 hours.

I'd appreciate others who have tried this to comment on their experience.

On January 10, 2006 at 03:23 PM, linda (guest) said...

Subject: Best Site

I was very glad to find your site today while looking for a new Salmon receipe. I have been married to an engineer for 34 years and he has a million reasons why not to cook.

Your site has come to my rescue. It if perfect for the analytical mind.

On January 30, 2006 at 04:30 PM, beartrapdave (guest) said...

Subject: Prime Rib

Awesome site, being an Engineer, I was immediately drawn in, trying the pan seared red pepper recipe tonight. My problem is however prime rib, cook it once a year, Xmas, and the last two years I have had 12 lb roast go beyond the desired temp. Cooking 20 mins a pound (200F)(boneless in both cases) it was flagrantly overcooked to well done! This year bought a new poke in thermometer (will buy one you can leave in) and thinking I was being extra cautious, bought a oven monitoring gauge (hangs on the oven rack) to make sure my oven temp was correct. A desparity of 25- 30 degrees! I see no mention of matching temp setting , new oven this year (dacor) - any experince with that? Do you think it was all about being boneless? - jokes expected...... Thanks

On February 03, 2006 at 12:34 PM, Kman (guest) said...

Subject: Rotisserie

I've done prime rib on a rotisserie 4 times now and agree with the theory that it's done when it's done. This weekend is an annual poker tournament I attend and feel that it will be easier said than done. I use a Weber grill and turn off the middle and back burners for a slow 225 degree roast. The hardest part is keeping early poker turnouts from opening up and looking.

We are planning on posting a bouncer (6'2" hockey player/ civil engineer) nearby, but fear his legendary appetite might create a conflict.

I will post our results.

On February 21, 2006 at 02:44 PM, JimGettman (guest) said...

Subject: Leftovers

This may seem a sacrilege to some, but our favorite part of our slow-cooked rib roasts is the sandwiches we make from the leftovers. We make two kinds -
HOT ROAST BEEF - Make a good gravy, get it bubbling hot, slice the meat thin, make a great slice of toast, use tongs to dunk the slices and load them onto the toast. The goal is to get them hot without further cooking.
ROAST BEEF DIP - Make a good au jus, get it bubbling hot, slice the meat thin, slice open a hearty sanwich roll, dunk it and then dress it as desired (we add nothing), use tongs to dunk the roast slices and load them onto the sandwich. As always, the goal is to get the sliced meat hot without further cooking.

On March 02, 2006 at 08:42 AM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: Cooking for a contract designer

Contract designers would be cooking and eating a fillet.

On March 20, 2006 at 03:21 AM, gue0 said...

Subject: I thought you guys were engineers....m(°¿-)m.....

Though I'm merely a lowly technician, I gravitate toward the scientific perspective on most of the answers needed to respond to the questions here. I wonder why some simple physics isn't appied here. The same science which is appied to baking pastries and custards is also appropiate to roasting, braising, broiling, broasting, frying, boiling, steaming, sauteeing, and anything else I might have forgotten. This would consist of the variables BTU output of the appliance, density, volume, and water content of the item being cooked. There are minor considerations such as the temperature coefficient of the medium conducting the heat and the rate of the heat transfer, but in order to hypothosize a universal formula for cooking a piece of meat to the desired state would require the careful collection of data under controlled conditions. Cooking is an art that is not immune from the laws of physics and physics underlie_ the principles of everything. Ya think?

On April 09, 2006 at 11:04 AM, chiocciman (guest) said...

Subject: It will never be done

This roast will never be done. You Engineers will debate conversion and physics until the roast is well done and no one will eat it.

This roast will never be done. You Engineers will debate conversion and physics until the roast is well done and no one will eat it.

That's why I recommend the use of a probe thermometer. That way, I can set it and forget it as I argue / discuss with my friends about the merits of using low heat vs. high heat roasting and start a pool going with the various estimates of when it will be done. If we get carried away, the BEEP BEEP BEEP from the Polder will tell me to come back to reality and pull the roast out of the oven. :)

On April 15, 2006 at 03:02 PM, Brian Peterson (guest) said...

Subject: 20-25 minutes per pound in a convection oven

NAFortis wrote:

...James Beard offers a <preheated 180 to 200 degree oven> slow-roast method for standing rib, BUT he specifies "...roast without basting for approximately 23 to 24 minutes per pound, until it achieves an internal temperature of 120 to 125 degrees for rare meat; ..."
Your method specifies a far longer time per pound. How say you to Beard's time/pound?

Michael Chu wrote:

My estimate of 45 minutes per pound comes from how long it takes my 200°F oven to bring an eight pound roast to an internal temperature of 130°F. I took the totla time and divided by eight pounds. This has held true for the last two roasts that I prepared. (Usually, I tell my guests to show up at a certain time and that dinner will be done when it's done. I start preparing the final touches of the other dishes when the roast is sitting at 125°F - the last few degrees always seem to take forever.)

My convection oven at 200°F took 4 hours to roast a 9.5 pound rib roast from 37°F to 130°F, as measured by both a thermocouple (accurate to +/- 0.1°F) and a remote sensor digital oven thermometer (Pyrex professional brand +/- 1°F). Another thermocouple with a 'gas' (open grid) sensor confirms that the thermostat on the convection oven is accurate.

So, I have to go with James Beard (and the New Joy of Cooking) for these times, at least in my convection oven.

Delicious! Thanks for the article and the comments!

On April 16, 2006 at 05:32 PM, tiernosc (guest) said...

Subject: Prime Rib

:) That was the best prime rib I have ever cooked. The recipe is simple and delicious. Thank for the great meal. Also, I would agree that the thermometer made the difference, although the 45 minutes per hour was right on.

On June 07, 2006 at 08:59 AM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: Sirloin tip

Quote:

This end is referred to as the small end rib roast or loin rib roast or sirloin tip roast.

The sirloin tip roast (AKA round tip roast, AKA beef knuckle) is cut from the front of the leg, the area from the hip to the knee. It is not associated with the rib.

On June 29, 2006 at 09:34 PM, Tom Cahill (guest) said...

Subject: Roasting other cut's

Very Good recipie for any cut, try it with "Chuck" or any other cut that has good "Marbeling" works the same, shorter cooking times. Be sure to increase the "Done" temp with smaller pieces. as they don't retain as much heat. Never over 138 before removing it if you like rare.

On July 01, 2006 at 07:37 PM, an anonymous reader said...

For everyone talking about the time to cook, I think only one person got it right, buy an independant thermometer. You oven can be off by as much as 30 degrees. This can make a huge difference in cooking time. Also I do mine a little backwards 200 until roast is @110 then crank it up to 500 to put a nice crust on it (about 10 minutes & use your eyes if it looks cruty enough it is) then pull out and let stand at least 30 minutes. This will make a rare roast, with a very crusty outside.

On July 20, 2006 at 08:55 PM, Traverser (guest) said...

Subject: Rib Roast on a Grill

Wowza!

I'm an engineer and always looking for the "right" way to do things...so this site is very helpful. Last night I did a 3-rib (6-lb) roast on a VT Castings BBQ grill - my first cooking on it! It was for a guests 60th birthday, so I was a bit nervous, but went for it anyway. After letting the roast come to room temp and tying it up, I rubbed-on some olive oil and seared the roast over direct flame for 3-minutes on each side. Then I rubbed it with coarse sea salt, fresh ground pepper and a little paprika. I placed the roast on a rack in a pan over the center of the grill (no cover on the roasting pan of course), shut off the two center burners and left the two outer burners on their lowest settings. An oven thermometer placed on the "floor" of the rack inside the roasting pan measured 200F, and the thermometer on the exterior of the grill hood measured 350F. Now, mind you, the grill thermometer is up high near the end of the hood so it was measuring directly over a burner. At any rate, the meat was done to 130F in exaclty 2.5 hours. At that point I opened the grill lid, placed the cover on the roast pan and let it sit for 30-minutes.

I carved the roast by slicing the ribs off the back, and then sliced nice "typical" rib cuts to serve. OUTSTANDING! I was a little worried because the roast cooked faster than this site suggests, but except for the outer 1/8-inch around, EVERY BIT of the roast was perfectly medium rare. The guests went nuts. My wife loved it, and my two young children couldn't get enough.

Tonight I basted the ribs up with BBQ sauce and grilled them for about 7-minutes on each side. They were super-yummy, although next time 'round I'll cook them a little longer - I like my ribs done more than I do my prime rib.

On August 14, 2006 at 01:47 PM, an anonymous reader said...

Hi. Recently ate at Sanfords Pub and Grub in Spearfish S.D.They make the best prime rib that I've had in a restaurant. I ordered the prime rib rare. I happened to have a view of the kitchen, over a counter,and watched as the chef took what appeared to be an already cooked cold roast,cut off a thick piece and that was all I could see. My meal came and the prime rib was as I had ordered it. Any ideas as to how it was heated back up?

On August 14, 2006 at 09:26 PM, Michael Chu said...

Anonymous wrote:

I happened to have a view of the kitchen, over a counter,and watched as the chef took what appeared to be an already cooked cold roast,cut off a thick piece and that was all I could see. My meal came and the prime rib was as I had ordered it. Any ideas as to how it was heated back up?

Most restaurants that serve prime rib keep the cooked rib roast under heat lamps or in a special "oven" that maintains the temperature at around 120°F so it stays hot but doesn't rise in temperature.

Some restaurants will prepare several roasts of varying doneness while other restuarants will cook the roast at higher temperatures to get a larger area of medium vs. medium-rare vs. rare and will cut the roast at different points to serve depending on your request. This usually means the rare or medium-rare roasts are not as good as they could have been where a restuarant specifically prepared an entire roast for that target temperature.

On August 15, 2006 at 06:10 PM, an anonymous reader said...

Thanks for the reply Michael. After reading your original post on how to cook prime rib, I can't wait to try it.Thinking of maybe giving it a try this weekend. Wondering if you have ever tried to barbecue prime rib and if so. how would you do it. I have heard of using a drip pan with some water or cooking wine,etc in it ,and placing the pan on top of the coals. Then the roast is placed on top of the grid and slowly cooked.Ken

On August 27, 2006 at 08:49 AM, gabe (guest) said...

Subject: boiled? prime rib

We go out for a delicious prime rib. I think it is boiled. Is that possible? Is there a recipe available for boiled prime rib. I visited your site today for the first time looking for such a recipe. Would love to try it at home.

On September 05, 2006 at 02:40 PM, an anonymous reader said...

I happened in to this great website while searching for a coherent clam chowder recipe. I love it. I cook prime rib very often and use a modification of the sear and slow roast technique that seems to greatly enhance the natural juice retention of the meat. I place the roast on a roasting rack so the bone side is above the roasting pan surface. I preheat the oven to 450 F and then place the pan in the middle. When I first hear a sizzling sound, about 6-10 minutes I reduce the heat to 200 F. I personally use a convection oven but this is not necessary. Here is where I vary from what has been suggested. Using an instant read thermometer rather than one placed in the roast, I start monitoring the center temp of the roast after it has been in the oven about 18-20 minutes per pound. When the central temperature reaches 118-120 F I remove the roast and wrap it in aluminum foil and place it on a plate in a non energized microwave (serves only as a wll insulated space), or a good cooler that is obviously without ice. In about 30 minutes, the roast will be uniformly on the rare side of medium rare. With a good quality true prime rib this is perfect for many but you can wait to remove the roast until the central temp is 122-124 F for a slightly less rare result. Removing the roast from heat early and letting the cooking process continue virtually eliminates the loss of juices (get some good stock for your gravy) and yields an incredibly uniform result.
Give it a try
Dr. J

On November 03, 2006 at 11:51 PM, matt_simerson (guest) said...

Subject: Emperical Data

There are a lot of comments here from folks that just don't seem to understand engineers. Without further noise:

Browning and cooking were done in a 10" Cast Iron Dutch Oven in which the roast barely fit. After browning, I inserted a heavy foil pie pan, inverted and cut to fit, with hole punched in it so the juices could drain. Browning rendered a fair bit of fat.

Temperatures were measured using the oven thermometer (+10/-1°), a calibrated over thermometer (+/- 1°), and a Maverick remote probe thermometer (+/- 2°, tested with ice & boiling water) inserted between two of the ribs, with the end of the probe centered in the roast.

After going back in the oven for 1/2 hour and raising the temp to 138°, we had perfect deep pink prime rib, all the way through. I just finished warming up a piece in a ziplock, in hot water, like Michael recommends. Excellent.

On November 18, 2006 at 11:43 AM, Robyn (guest) said...

Hi Michael;
I just now happened upon your Cooking For Engineers site. I am so glad you created this for us analytical minded people. I am about to prepare a standing rib roast for Thanksgiving for some friends. I have a handwritten (by me) recipe from my father who was a cook in the army in WWII. He loved to cook and continued in that industry all his career after the war. He died several years ago and this is the first time I am attempting this recipe without him here to call on the phone for walk-through advise.
My notes on how to cook the standing prime rib are jumbled - out of character for an analytical mind. But it is because I had to take notes as he talked. He spoke like an artist but he had analytical spurts. I am also a map (visual) person, so you can see why the notes are a mish mash of analytical-visual-artistic learning/communicating styles. Because of this I had to check out the web for help to interpret my own notes. And miraculously there's your website - waiting just for me. I love it! Your link is now saved to my desktop! I am now able to rearrange my notes and answer my question marks (200 degrees or not) (Kosher salt before or after searing) etc. Thank you for this website!
Robyn
from Florida

On December 07, 2006 at 07:45 PM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: real engineers use metric???

Mr. Chu,

your reponse is perfect. Lazy engineers complain about conversion when dealing w/ international "algorithms or recipes". Lucky for me, i'm a lazy engineer, that happens to use the same units as you do. (SWEET). Great recipe. I agree whole heartidly, all ya need for a good cut of meat is salt, pepper and and a low temperature.

On December 10, 2006 at 09:50 PM, Guest (guest) said...

Subject: Roast without bones

I'd like to try this method and was wondering if i use a cut of meat that does not have bones attached will my cooking time still be 40-45 minutes per pound? (I hope to find an 8lb roast)
Thank you!

On December 13, 2006 at 07:11 PM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: Alternative rib roasting recipes ...

For the last few years I have been attempting to recapture the flavor of the standing rib roast my grandmother cooked in the late 1950s and early 1960s. She grew up on a farm in Wyoming and raised three kids on a farm in Nebraska through the Depression. A stroke ended her speech when I was too young to have extracted her recipes from her head, because she never wrote anything down. I have solved the corn pudding recipe (just Google "Memphis Corn Pudding") but have yet to have cracked the rib roast or the dinner rolls.

Anyway, in addition to Michael's searing-and-200 method (with the searing coming either through a skillet or a 500-degree oven), I have found two other methods that have produced interesting results (still not Grandma's though):

The aforementioned James Beard also proposes that a three- or four-rib roast can be cooked thusly: For a 7:30 p.m. dinner, do the normal seasoning and place the roast in a 375-degree oven at 11:30 a.m.; shut off the oven (but leave the roast inside) at 12:30 p.m. At 6 p.m., turn the oven again at 375 for another hour, pull the roast out and let it rest for 30 minutes. I've never tried this one.

I've given up on both analog and digital quick-read thermometers and am ordering a Poulder today, with the understanding that the Poulter probe wires eventually burn out. A new wire and probe costs $15, while the whole shebang costs $10. You've got to love American consumer society.

Thanks.

\dmc

On December 16, 2006 at 10:07 AM, michael (guest) said...

Subject: Standing Prime Rib at 22lbs

Help. I am picking up a full standing (ribs in) prime rib that my butchers says will weigh in at about 22lbs. Based on everything I have read through this great forum, are my calculations correct in assuming it will take almost 10 hours at 200 degrees F? Could I achieve the same slow cook effect by turning my heat up to-say 225 degrees to shave off a few minutes (hours) of cooking time? Thanks in advance, Michael

On December 16, 2006 at 10:22 PM, Crash said...

Subject: Re: Standing Prime Rib at 22lbs

michael wrote:

Help. I am picking up a full standing (ribs in) prime rib that my butchers says will weigh in at about 22lbs. Based on everything I have read through this great forum, are my calculations correct in assuming it will take almost 10 hours at 200 degrees F? Could I achieve the same slow cook effect by turning my heat up to-say 225 degrees to shave off a few minutes (hours) of cooking time? Thanks in advance, Michael

Wow michael, 22lbs? I seriously doubt your roast will take 10 hours. The largest one I roasted was 12lbs. That one took 5 hours @150*F. My experience is that as rib roasts get larger they get longer but not much thicker. The largest rib roast I've seen had a diameter of about 8".

Your oven heat has to penetrate a thickness of 3 to 4 inches of protein (the radius of the cross section of the joint), regardless of weight.

This year I have an oven that allows me to roast as low as 125*F. I plan on searing the roast in the oven at 525*F for 15 minutes then turn the temperature to 125*F (my target internal temp) for the remainder of the cooking time.

I'll start it earlier than usual. If internal temperature reaches 125* early, no big deal, I'll just leave it in the oven until we serve it. Internal temperature is not going to rise any higher. At that temp. the roast won't need to rest.

Michael, my 12 pound roast was about 16" in length. I'm really interested in knowing the dimensions of your roast when you get it (length/diameter).
Thanks

On December 17, 2006 at 07:04 PM, azmomof5 (guest) said...

Subject: How do I know what size Prime Rib Roast I will need?

Expecting to feed 18 adults for Christmas dinner. What size Rib roast should I buy?

On December 18, 2006 at 12:59 AM, Crash said...

Subject: Re: How do I know what size Prime Rib Roast I will need?

azmomof5 wrote:

Expecting to feed 18 adults for Christmas dinner. What size Rib roast should I buy?

azmomof5,

Provided that you're serving side dishes and trimmings, 0.75lb servings should be adequate. That translates to 13 to 14lb roast.

.

On December 18, 2006 at 04:11 AM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: How do I know what size Prime Rib Roast I will need?

azmomof5 wrote:

Expecting to feed 18 adults for Christmas dinner. What size Rib roast should I buy?

If Prime Rib is your only entree - expect to feed 2 people per rib. Usually, my dinner guests end up consuming only about 1/4 to 1/3 rub per person with a mixed group and a variety of food available (some take 1-in. cuts while others split a 1/4-in. cut). If all your guests are hearty eaters - you'll basically need two roasts going at the same time.

On December 20, 2006 at 08:28 PM, Colleen (guest) said...

Subject: Prime Rib Roast

Hi - We have an 18.72 lb rib roast to cook for christmas eve. My plan is to roast at 200 starting at midnight and expect the roast to be medium rare and remove from oven approx 2 pm., let stand 1 hour and carve at 3 pm. Do I have it right? :huh:

On December 22, 2006 at 01:48 PM, michael (guest) said...

Subject: Cooking Time- to crash and everyone else

Crash, thanks for your reply. 17 inches by 8.5 inches in diameter. Weighing in at 20.5 lbs. I like your idea of cooking at 125 degrees. Unfortunately I just checked my over and it only goes down to 175 degrees. But I am going to try your system. Here is my big dilemma folks. I am serving dinner for friends at 7:00PM. I’m trying to calculate my cooking time at 20.5 lbs at 175 degrees to get an internal temp of 130 degrees. Any suggestions on the approximate cooking time per pound? Thanks to all, and to all a good night. Happy Holidays. Michael

On December 22, 2006 at 07:15 PM, jay (guest) said...

Subject: Prime Rib

I am glad I found this site - many great ideas. I have a couple of questions if anyone can help. I ordered a 16lb prime rib for Christmas Eve dinner and picked it up today. It is off the bone and not what I expected. It is roughly 18" long by 10" and about 2.5" to 3" thick. It is it best to roll it up and tie it or just cook it as is? Will this affect the cooking times discussed above?

On December 22, 2006 at 09:55 PM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: Re: How to cut the Prime Rib with Bone?

Maria Elena wrote:

I read your excellent detailed recipe, I am also an engineer..I am wondering how do you slice the meat piece after cooking it.Do you have to remove the bone first?..how do you do that?
Thanks

On December 26, 2006 at 11:37 PM, alice (guest) said...

Subject: Reheating the prime rib without making it tough and dry

Following your recipe or directions, it was the best prime rib I ever cooked!

I have some leftovers and would like to serve it again, but I have always had trouble with the meat getting too tough and/or too dry. What is your suggestions in reheating the perfect medium rare meat????

On December 26, 2006 at 11:58 PM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: Reheating the prime rib without making it tough and dry

alice wrote:

I have some leftovers and would like to serve it again, but I have always had trouble with the meat getting too tough and/or too dry. What is your suggestions in reheating the perfect medium rare meat????

The very best method that I've used is bagging the meat in a zip top bag and weighting ti down so it's submerged in very hot (but not boiling) water. The time it takes to reheat varies according tot he thickenss of the cut and the temperature it was when it went into the water, but, generally, after 30 minutes or so, the meat is nicely warmed up without continuing to cook it.

Microwaving also works fairly well if the meat has relatively warm to begin with (or has warmed up froma bagged soak in hot water). If it takes longer than 1 minute to heat up with the microwave, it's not a good solution - but if the meat is room temperature and you want to quickly bring it up to eating temperature, about 30 seconds in the microwave works without over cooking parts of the beef.

On January 08, 2007 at 09:32 PM, Edward Warren (guest) said...

Subject: Standing Rib Roast

I am an engineer with a degree in Bio-Medical Engineering from Duke. This approach permeates almost everything I do.
I cooked 2 such roasts lately: one on Christmas day and one night before last for a party. I used the recipe in the December 2006 Gourmet which cooked in 2½ hours at 350º F. The experiment I did was to use a 4 rib piece of real prime beef for Christmas and choice beef for the party. The choice beef was half as expensive at $9/lb and it tasted better. I know that the pleural of anecdote is not data, but I will not feel like I am missing anything by using choice beef again.
Sincerely yours,
Ed Warren

There are only 10 kinds of people in the world, those who understand binaries and those who do not.

On January 24, 2007 at 03:08 PM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: Thanks Muchly!

Used this recipe last night for the first time, and wanted to thank you for such simple advice. My rib roast came out beautifully and my husband, who loves prime rib, was greatly satisfied.

Keep up the good work! :)

On February 06, 2007 at 03:46 PM, Joe (guest) said...

Subject: Cooking time

I'm going with a 19.5 lbs. Searing 20 mins at 450 F, then bringing it down to 250 F. Cooking it to an internal Temp of 130 F. A little confused as to the approximate cooking time. How long will this take to cook?

On February 06, 2007 at 03:50 PM, Cooking time (guest) said...

Subject: Re: Prime Rib Roast

Colleen wrote:

Hi - We have an 18.72 lb rib roast to cook for christmas eve. My plan is to roast at 200 starting at midnight and expect the roast to be medium rare and remove from oven approx 2 pm., let stand 1 hour and carve at 3 pm. Do I have it right? :huh:

Did the cooking time of 14 hours at 200 F work out?

On February 17, 2007 at 07:47 PM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: covering roast with salt

Hi. Have you tried covering roast with layer of rock salt,kosher salt,or sea salt. Just wondering what the salt does , what temp to cook at and how does the roast turn out using this method. Thanx.

On March 12, 2007 at 12:06 AM, an anonymous reader said...

To everyone who posted data on this site I feel as though a thank you is in order. My eveneing is winding down after an all day battle that I feel you are the heroes of. I somewhat unexpectedly found myself with a 20# standing rib that needed cooking. I am no stranger to cooking beef but I have always had my home-grown beef butchered and cut the prime into rib steaks.
Last night I found this site and imediately felt at ease. I printed the entire chat log and decided to get up early on the morning of my maiden prime voyage and decide a plan of attack for my 5:30 dinner for 15. After reading the entire chat log I decided to use a little of everyones input. With only 6 hours until crunch time a 200 temp was out, even so I read one entry championing a 250-275 temp and from what I learned on this site it seemed the lowest temp possibility at my disposal.
Used a minced garlic, prepared mustard, powdered mustard, worschestershire, red pepper, chile pepper, onion salt, "If it sounds good it probably is rub".
Set my propane grill up to high used extra virgin olive oil in an aerosol can to coat the roast and generously sprinkled the roast with course salt and fresh ground pepper, then seared it over the flames on all sides.
Preheated indoor oven to 265, rubbed seared roast with afore-mentioned rub and placed on a "rack" of onion slices one-half to three-quarters an inch thick. I made a rack of onion because I didn't have a metal rack and thought the au jus would benefit anyway. "side note, temp of 265 will not burn onions".
Roasted in convection oven at 265 for 5 hours until internal thermo read 125. Served with a 1cup mayo, 1half cup horseradish, 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice and salt to taste sauce to be slathered, au jus also.
Knocked everyones socks of including mine. Thank you everyone who shared their experience it truly made ours.

On April 08, 2007 at 11:11 AM, Ellen (guest) said...

Subject: My first prime rib! 4.34 lb roast

I love the site (and I'm an engineer!) Incidentally, if you have a Kitchenaid Mixer you might really like the KitchenAid Cookbook they sell. I love it. The bread recipes say things like "turn it on speed 2 for 2 minutes" instead of "process it until it looks doughy and elastic" ;-) I do much better with the objective data instead of just subjective descriptions...they frustrate me.

Anyway, I tried my very first prime rib last night. Thanks to all who have contributed to this site. The truth is that my cooking of it didn't match my plan...the evening got all crazy...but despite this, the roast turned out fabulous and I figured I'd add to the data.

It was a 4.34 lb choice standing rib roast...4 bones I think. A little roast.

I preheated the oven to 450 degrees F (conventional). As soon as I put the roast in, I turned it down to 200 degrees F. I skipped the searing on the stove...running late..and didn't use a rack...just put in a baking pan and that seemed to work fine. There wasn't that much grease.

It cooked at 200 degrees for 2 hours 27 mins. Then I panicked and turned the oven up to 350 degrees because it was getting really late. It cooked at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. At that point, my cheap thermometer said it was 120 degrees in the center but I took it out anyway. I didn't let it rest, and just served it. It came out nicely pink nearly throughout, with good browning on the outside. About 1/2" around the outside edge was well done. It was somewhere between rare and medium-rare...perfect for me. When I went to slice the remainder of the roast after supper I noticed it was much more done...medium-rare or maybe a bit more...light pink throughout but no red...so clearly the center had heated up a bit more while sitting on the serving plate (if it had rested, I think the whole thing would have gone to that).

So...don't be overly intimidated by your first attempt, and know that all is not lost if your plan goes awry.

I just ordered a probe thermometer (they had it at Bed Bath & Beyond and Target) that includes a wireless remote unit you can take with you to monitor the temp of the roast and hear the alarm sound (I would have trouble hearing a timer go off in the kitchen). You can even clip this device to your belt so you don't wander away from it. (I'm still pretty easily flustered in my attempts to entertain people in my home).

I just thought I'd add to the data (even if the whole thing was a bit haphazard!)

I'll do this again!

Ellen

On April 20, 2007 at 09:00 AM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: Hard to mess up

It should be noted that this process is relatively difficult to get wrong. As I see it you can only mess it up if you do one of the following three things:

1. Burn the meat. i.e. Letting the internal temp get above 140F.
2. Not letting the meat rest after cooking.
3. Burn the meat. i.e. Turning the outside to charcoal.

The first one is easy. Use a probe thermometer and count on carry-over heating: I usually count on about 3% of the difference of the temperature. e.g. 200F oven for a 125F roast results in 75F x 3% = 2.25F carry-over. 300F oven for a 125F roast results in 175F x 3% = 5.25F carry-over. This is most valid for large roasts which are longer than they are thick. Your mileage may vary.

The second one is a little more tricky. When do you know you've let it rest enough? I wait until the inner temperature finishes rising and drops back to the temperature at which I pulled it out of the oven. e.g. I pull the roast at 125F. It rises to 128F. So I have to wait until the temperature drops back to 125F. Note: This could easily take an hour or more on a large piece of meat.

<scienceContent>
The third one is simple in execution but complex scientifically. It has to do with the complex chemical reactions of the Maillard and caramelization reactions. The process turns the proteins and sugars in the meat into more complex compounds which are generally brown in color. Cook too hot for too long and the outside will turn black and burn.

These reactions start at temperatures as low as 230-250F and occur at a faster rate as the temperature goes up.
</scienceContent>

So generally it is a good idea to not roast at a temperature above 250F. Also, remember that a lower temperature is better because cooking a roast is not all that different from cooking a custard:

The faster you cook, the more protein coagulation you're going to get and as a result you will wring out more water from the meat. This usually means that even with a proper resting period, more of the juice of the meat will run out onto the plate when the roast is served.

So if you have the time, cook slower. Even slower than 200F if your oven can manage it. Just make sure that you set the temperature at or above the final doneness temperature of the meat (i.e. above 127F for medium-rare).

Also, use an oven thermometer. Ovens suck, especially at low temperatures. At least borrow one from a friend to prove to yourself that you actually need one. I'm betting you do.

On April 20, 2007 at 10:40 AM, cookingIZfun said...

Subject: Re: How do I re-heat it, if I make it ahead?

1. Have the meat pre sliced into portions.
2. Let it get at room temp.
3. Place the portions in an aju on a low simmer until heated through
4. Serve

That would be how we did it at the restaraunt I worked at.

On June 09, 2007 at 04:51 PM, KC (guest) said...

Subject: GREAT!!!!

Hey,
I a not an "engineer" by education, but I am an "engineer" by motherhood. LOL...Great site. I do this Prime Rib Roast. I leave mine frozen, crust it in course salt and fresh course ground pepper. Wrap it in tinfoil and I cook it @ 250 degrees for 6 hours. It is GREAT!!!! Crusted with flavor and juice. It turns out med rare. Just wanted you to know.
:P

On June 15, 2007 at 12:34 PM, Libra (guest) said...

Subject: prime rib roast

I let roast rise to room temp on the counter. Slightly dampen the outside then roll in rock salt. Pat it on like a shell. Add coarse ground black pepper to shell. Place in oven at 450 degrees for 15 or so minutes. Turn oven down to 200 and roast til meat thermometer is at desired temp. Quicker and easier than browning in the pan. It browns in hot oven and salt seals in juices. To serve, break away salt shell.

On June 23, 2007 at 01:21 AM, Gerry said...

Subject: substitute a steak for the prime rib?

Has anyone used the prime rib cooking specs on a steak? The prime rib turned out excellent. I was just wondering how a steak, say, 2 lb, would turn out.

On June 23, 2007 at 05:19 AM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: substitute a steak for the prime rib?

Gerry wrote:

Has anyone used the prime rib cooking specs on a steak? The prime rib turned out excellent. I was just wondering how a steak, say, 2 lb, would turn out.

This is actually an excellent way to prepare a steak if you're not doing it on a grill. Just sear both sides of the steak in some butter or oil - about 3 to 4 minutes each side. Slip it into a 200°F oven until done to degree you desire. Because it's not easy to get a probe thermometer to sit in the steak and produce accurate temperatures, I recommend using a fast thermometer, like the Thermapen, and measuring every few minutes (depending on how close you are to your target temperature). There will be minimal amount of carry over cooking, so you can take it out when it hits your mark. If the steak it too thin, then the high temperature sear might put you over your intended doneness, so watch out for that.

On June 23, 2007 at 02:13 PM, Gerry said...

Thanks for your prompt reply on cooking steaks. GC

On July 08, 2007 at 03:31 PM, Kevin in Calgary (guest) said...

Subject: Prime Rib Roast - awesome!

Just wanted to let you know that I tried your slow cooking method on a 3.75 lb Prime Rib Roast and it was incredible. I actually cooked it in a roasting pan on the BBQ. It was very easy and kept the oven free for the rest of the dinner. I am looking forward to trying this out with a much larger roast for company now.

Thanks for the great website.

On July 10, 2007 at 08:35 PM, jkarle1106 said...

Subject: Prime Rib & Temurature

I've done this recipe, and it's great. But, being particular about temperature, I do all my cooking using old William John Macquorn Rankine's scale. Just because I can.

On September 30, 2007 at 03:17 PM, GaryProtein said...

Michael Chu wrote:

Okay, there's been a lot of commentary on slashdot and other sites on why a REAL engineer would use FAKE / LAME units. This is the only response I'll give.

In my mind, a real engineer is capable of working with whatever is given to him. A good engineer might not do an exact sixteenth decimal place conversion, but a good engineer will know when a precise conversion is necessary and an imprecise one is acceptable. Most engineers are capable of working in whatever unit constraints are provided them and can think in US, metric, or SI. I have conversations with engineers from other countries routinely where we will both use inches, microns, degrees celcius, and pounds in the same conversation.

I happen to live (and cook) in the United States where we use a weird system involving seemlingly random and confusing units. So, I present my recipes with these units because I will be using these units when I cook.

Now scientists on the other hand are a different breed from engineers and will require SI units...

I flipped to this thread because I am making a standing rib roast on the grill using a rotisserie this afternoon and needed to check on a couple of details. My post here is completely off topic, but being a metric-o-phile, is there is such a word, I had to respond. I've said before I detest the system of weights and measures we use in the US, and can't wait for a change, but I know we are going to be stuck with it for a long time. BUT, with regard to accuracy and precision in engineering and architecture, everyone should be reminded that the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge (among many other structures in the modern world) and going to the moon, were all done with a slide rule (what's that? say the kids), and three significant figure accuracy, not to mention a lot of know-how. Cooking is one of those things where know how (or knowing where to get the information) is what makes the difference between a cook that knocks out mediocre meals, and a cook, trained or not, that seeks out information that they need to know to produce a delicious meal that everyone will enjoy.

Thanks to everyone for this great thread!

On October 08, 2007 at 05:39 PM, Irish (guest) said...

Subject: Bumping

I can't wait to try this method of cooking rib!

On October 09, 2007 at 06:25 PM, jkarle1106 said...

Subject: Temp measurment for Standing Rib Roast!

I was of course being facetious, tongue in cheek so to speak, about using the Rankine scale to cook with. I actually prefer to use the Romer or even the Reaumer scales, but my glass thermometers calibrated in those obscure units are to valuable to use for cooking. Even for a Standing Rib Roast! :P

On October 09, 2007 at 09:13 PM, GaryProtein said...

Subject: Re: Temp measurment for Standing Rib Roast!

jkarle1106 wrote:

I was of course being facetious, tongue in cheek so to speak, about using the Rankine scale to cook with. I actually prefer to use the Romer or even the Reaumer scales, but my glass thermometers calibrated in those obscure units are to valuable to use for cooking. Even for a Standing Rib Roast! :P

Now the Reaumur scale is just as detestable to me as the Fahrenheit/Rankine scales. Where do these guys get their motivation to make these ridiculous scales? Lets here it for Celsius and Kelvin. Go metric!

I have to say I am VERY impressed that you have Reaumur scale thermometers. They are probably extremely valuable, at leasts to nuts like us.

On October 18, 2007 at 05:27 AM, fishball (guest) said...

I would like to ask, is it ok to age a defrost prime rib before cooking.

On October 18, 2007 at 03:27 PM, GaryProtein said...

fishball wrote:

I would like to ask, is it ok to age a defrost prime rib before cooking.

I wouldn't age a defrosted prime rib before cooking it. I don't anyone who has the facility to truly age a piece of beef at home. Besides, if I was going to take the time and go to the significant expense of preparing a prime rib/standing rib roast, and then take the credit or blame for its outcome, I would just purchase exactly what I wanted when I was ready to prepare and serve it.

On October 21, 2007 at 10:34 PM, an anonymous reader said...

Thanks Gray,

Since I am not living in US, it is very hard to find unfrozen USDA Prime beef. The roast selling here is un-aged, frozen one, so I just want to find out is that any way I can improve it favour. Anyway, thanks for your comment.

On October 24, 2007 at 03:36 AM, Chef Eithun (guest) said...

Subject: Restaurant Preperation

[i:8fec73f8db]On August 14, 2006 at 09:26 PM, Michael Chu said...
Anonymous wrote:
I happened to have a view of the kitchen, over a counter,and watched as the chef took what appeared to be an already cooked cold roast,cut off a thick piece and that was all I could see. My meal came and the prime rib was as I had ordered it. Any ideas as to how it was heated back up?

Most restaurants that serve prime rib keep the cooked rib roast under heat lamps or in a special "oven" that maintains the temperature at around 120°F so it stays hot but doesn't rise in temperature.

Some restaurants will prepare several roasts of varying doneness while other restuarants will cook the roast at higher temperatures to get a larger area of medium vs. medium-rare vs. rare and will cut the roast at different points to serve depending on your request. This usually means the rare or medium-rare roasts are not as good as they could have been where a restuarant specifically prepared an entire roast for that target temperature.[/i:8fec73f8db]

[b:8fec73f8db]I've probably cooked a thousand standing rib roasts for restaurants across the country and I have always used very similar methods as this recipe. Lots of different rubs, but always prefer the low temp method. I've also added wine, different vegetables, and stocks.. but mostly to setup for the jus I make later. I've also managed to alter the natural flavor of the meat but don't think thats a good thing. To the point of why I am even posting... there is many techniques restaurants use to serve prime rib, but the most common from my experience is cooking the roast to rare and maintaining that temperature during service. Once the customer orders their desired temperature, its usually brought up to the desired temperature in a jus thats usually then served along side it.

This is the first forum I've read so far on this site, but I am very impressed and find it very informational.
Thanks[/b:8fec73f8db]

On November 14, 2007 at 07:38 PM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: Buying roast in advance?

Interesting reading all the comments about the various cooking times and methods. I do prefer the high heat at first then low heat, but may reverse that this year.

Anyways how far in advance can I buy a roast and not worry abut it spoiling or whatever?

On November 14, 2007 at 11:22 PM, GaryProtein said...

That's hard to say. A lot depends on how it was stored before you got it.

On November 18, 2007 at 08:40 AM, Loco (guest) said...

Subject: Engineer's & cooking

Real Engineer's dont cook, they have their Conductors buy them food! Lol! Im a Locomotive Engineer and happened upon this website while attempting to cook a prime rib. If all works out, free rides for all on the Long Island Railroad. Keep it on the rails!

On November 18, 2007 at 10:07 AM, Dilbert said...

ref buying the roast in advance -

from my butcher I always see them bring it out in the vacuumed sealed "big cut" -
I typically specific amount by number of ribs - I would not recommend less than three ribs for this method.

then I do the home method of dry aging.
place on smallest platter/low rimmed pan I can fit, on a rack, covered with a cloth towel, bottom back of refrigerator.
rotate 180 degrees every 24 hrs; change towel as / if it becomes bloody/soiled.

allow to stand for five days. because the home fridge is not as well controlled (temp & humidity) as 'professional' dry aging,
max five days is recommended for safety.

On the 18th on November Lowes had Oregon Scientific (Model AW131) wireless temperatute probes for ~$14.00 each. This is around $30.00 less than I found on-line. I am going to use it for our standing rib roast Thanksgiving dinner. Thanks for the recipe.

On November 28, 2007 at 03:02 PM, steve walsh (guest) said...

Subject: yorkshire pudding

Please use a large muffin tin (holds 6) The flat style of doing yorkshire does not do it justice at all!!!

sw

On December 05, 2007 at 11:20 AM, KCMO Ken (guest) said...

Subject: Another data point

Let me add another data point here. I started with a 9.5 lbs standing rib roast, chuck end, 3 bones, and dry aged for 5 days at which point I had a 9 lb roast. I took it out of the refrigerator 1½ hours before I inserted the probe thermometer and put it in a 200F oven on convection roast cycle (I don’t know the difference, but I have convection bake one rack, convection bake multi-racks, convection roast, and convection dehydrate cycles, convection roast creates a very nice crust).

Some notes of interest:
1) Taking the roast out of the refrigerator early to warm to room temperature achieved absolutely nothing. To get “near room temperature” would take far longer than a couple of hours.
2) At 200 F, my cook time is less than 30 minutes/lb to achieve desired doneness.
3) At 175F, my temperature carry-over was 4F.
4) The doneness was very uniform.
5) Before putting it in the oven, I rubbed with oil, 2 tsp. kosher salt, and 2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper, the crust was amazing.
6) Next time I get a loin end roast, cook at 175F, remove from oven at no higher internal temperature than 128F for rest prior to cooking at 500F to make the crust.

On December 05, 2007 at 04:26 PM, Dilbert said...

Ken -

200'F is a bit more on the meat smoking scale than roasting - I'd suggest upping the oven temp to 275'F.

that low temp long heat soak also resulted in the "done thru and thru, and too much done, at that" result.

when you think about it, if you want outer layer crisp&crusty, to some depth of brown done, but inside medium rare - you can't let the whole chunk of meat come to a stable / steady state temperature. at that point, it's all done "the same"

convection vs. conventional: convection circulates the air more vigorously; with long roast time, not recommended. the whole purpose of convection is "make it happen faster" which is not what you set out to do.

On December 05, 2007 at 09:23 PM, Michael Chu said...

Dilbert wrote:

200'F is a bit more on the meat smoking scale than roasting - I'd suggest upping the oven temp to 275'F.

that low temp long heat soak also resulted in the "done thru and thru, and too much done, at that" result.

when you think about it, if you want outer layer crisp&crusty, to some depth of brown done, but inside medium rare - you can't let the whole chunk of meat come to a stable / steady state temperature. at that point, it's all done "the same"

Dilbert, it looks like Ken did a pretty good job at following the directions - In fact, I'd still recommend 200°F for the oven temp, but since he's using a conventional oven, you'll have to either disable the circulation or reduce the cooking time. Now that Ken's got a set of data points, his next attempt will probably be timed differently.

Evenly cooked is the point of this recipe. Pulling out at 130°F would give Ken as much meat as possible at medium-rare. I like forming the crust earlier with a sear in the pan or on a grill over high heat and then performing a slow roast to get as much of the interior at the desired temperature.

Dilbert wrote:

convection vs. conventional: convection circulates the air more vigorously; with long roast time, not recommended. the whole purpose of convection is "make it happen faster" which is not what you set out to do.

Yep.

On December 06, 2007 at 12:01 PM, KCMOKen (guest) said...

Subject: Doneness

When I smoke, I use 175-200F. But there is not much use in smoking unless you are using wood fuel. I am not sure I would risk a standing rib roast to smoking, mostly because that is a pretty hefty investment to not turn out good. If someone esle smokes one, I would be happy to taste a sample...

Actually I was trying to achieve the maximum amount of medium rare, basically medium rare through and through with a crust on the outside - any other way than the lowest possible temperature wouldn't achieve this same result. Once you got past the depth of the crust, which was just on the ouside, you got some slightly more done in the next 1/4", and the remainder of the roast was very uniform - exactly as I had hoped. However very uniform 136F (132F removal temperature with 4F carry-over) was still more done than I like, apparently I prefer rarer than this (this was my first time cooking standing rib roast, although certainly not my first time eating prime rib). The results as to uniform doneness were as I had hoped and my process is not likely to change next time except that I will try with convection disabled and will remove the roast at a lower temperature.

I had never convection roasted this low before. In the past on smaller roasts and more conventional temperatures, I have found that convection roast cycle doesn't appreciably reduce cooking time so much as it really forms a nice outside crust. Perhaps my cooking times are reduced, but at relatively small amounts that fall into the point of being negligible? However with a much longer and lower temperature roast time the convection factor is perhaps no longer negligible (I could only verify this by cooking another standing rib roast without it - yum). I can certainly disable the convection fan, however there is something clearly more to convection than simply a fan as my oven has four different convection cycles.

[[something clearly more to convection]]
yes and no; and of course the ever popular "mebbe"

convection is simply forced air circulation attempting to put the entire oven volume "more closer to the set point"

there's slow air fan, fast air fan, separate heating element 'boosters' to heat the air while it's circulating, low booster heat, high booster heat, and of where from it sucks and whereto it blasts.

for 'exposed' items, drying - ala the crust formation - is more pronounced. convection cooking a roast in a covered pot will not dry it out. . . .

if you have a heat booster in the convection air stream, that can affect 'crust' as the air exiting the convection ports is higher than the set point.

the low temp is indeed suited to your aim for medium rare (xCrust) throughout. I misread your initial post - I actually prefer Crust+Medium+Rare outer to bone - and have found the high temps help create that gradient.

On December 13, 2007 at 11:03 AM, an anonymous reader said...

If you have guests that prefer their meat more well-done than others, I'd recommend the following tip that my sister-in-law told me (it's what they do in her restaurant):

1. Cook roast to medium rare (or rare if that's what you like)
2. Heat-up some au-jus in a large pot, keeping it at low heat ( you'll need enough to completely cover a carved piece of your roast)
3. Dip any piece you want cooked more into the au-jus and wait

I don't have cooking times, but it will only take a couple of minutes to change the done-ness "level".

It's also a good way to give everyone a nice warm piece since you can do a quick dip right before serving.

On December 13, 2007 at 03:06 PM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: alton brown cooks first, sears second

I just saw an Alton Brown special that recommends searing /after/ slow cooking... his claim is that doing it in that order will keep more juice in the meat. Sure enough, not much au jus was visible in his roasting pan...

I am getting a 9-rib roast for christmas, and i am going to cut it at 5 ribs and have a 4 rib left over. I am cutting it like this to fit it in the oven. My question is, do i cook both of the rib roasts the same amount of time as if it were a whole 9 rib roast or do i cook them as if i were cooking a 5 rib roast? Thank you

On December 15, 2007 at 09:33 AM, GUEST (guest) said...

Subject: ABOUT SEARING AFTER COOKING!

YES I HAVE COOKED THE ROAST LIKE ALTON BROWN, ACTUALLY ITS THE ONLY WAY I EVER COOKED IT. I COOK IT @ 225 AND THEN THE LAST 30 MINS I TURN THE HEAT UP TO 350-400 DEPENDING ON THE SIZE OF THE ROAST. IT HAS BEEN SOOOOOOO DELICIOUS ITS NOT EVEN FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On December 15, 2007 at 04:43 PM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: i am cooking two roasts for christmas?

guest wrote:

I am getting a 9-rib roast for christmas, and i am going to cut it at 5 ribs and have a 4 rib left over. I am cutting it like this to fit it in the oven. My question is, do i cook both of the rib roasts the same amount of time as if it were a whole 9 rib roast or do i cook them as if i were cooking a 5 rib roast? Thank you

It'll end up closer to the time it takes for a 4-5 rib roast than for a 9-rib roast due to the extra surface area on the two extra end pieces you are exposing. However, I've found that the total time for a 4-5 rib roast doesn't differ drastically from that of a 9-rib (which is what I've got in the oven right now).

On December 15, 2007 at 05:38 PM, guest (guest) said...

Subject: thanks for the answer

thanks for the quick response and happy roasting!!!! Hopefully you are eating it as i speak, thats a wonderful thing!

On December 17, 2007 at 08:17 AM, Karen (guest) said...

Subject: Spelling

"... USDA grade it recieved." REC-E-I-VED, not REC-I-E-VED...

On December 18, 2007 at 01:18 AM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: Spelling

Karen wrote:

"... USDA grade it recieved." REC-E-I-VED, not REC-I-E-VED...

Fixed. Messages like this can be e-mailed instead of going into comments.

On December 18, 2007 at 05:34 PM, thankyouCFE (guest) said...

Subject: Prime Rib recipe

Hello all,

Just wanted to post and let the world know that this is the way to do it. I will be making dinner this year for Christmas. This will be the third time using this page for guidance. Every time I make this roast it has come out perfect and my guests continue to rave about how tasty it is. Cheers for providing a valuable service. Thank you very much.

Merry Christmas!

Matthew

On December 20, 2007 at 12:41 AM, dunwerkin said...

Subject: Prime Rib... some want well done..... some want med rare...

Hello..

I am having 10 people for dinner on Christmas. First time preparing a prime rib... Question. We'd like to use our rotisseri, how to I calculate time. Biggest problem... half of my quests like well done... the other half med rare. Any suggestions on pleasing both. Should I do 2 separate small roasts.. and adjust cooking time for both or????

Thank you..

On December 20, 2007 at 07:44 AM, GaryProtein said...

DEFINITELY do two smaller roasts. Start them both at the same time, take the medium rare out when it is done, and let the well done continue to cook. When the medium rare is half done, just rotate the roasts in the oven so they both get even heating. Each group will think you did a good job.

There is no way you will get roughly equal amounts of meat that are half medium rare and half well done.

On December 20, 2007 at 03:38 PM, Eric (guest) said...

Subject: Large Boneless Roast

Wonderful site!

I have a 15 pound boneless rib roast. It's close 22 inches long with a diameter of 8 inches or so. Does the 45 minute guideline still apply if I follow the recipe as outlined at the beginning of this blog? That calculates to 11.25 hours in the oven after browning? is that right? just seems like a long time for anything to be in the oven. Also, does the fact that there are no bones in it affect the cooking time? Thank you!

I was planning on doing his recipe of cooking at 200 degrees, (he said about 4 hours for a 10lb roast to get to an internal temp of 118deg, expecting 10-12 degrees of carry over heat), then firing up the oven to 500 to form a crust.

Therefore, to get a 10lb roast to an internal temp of 126, I need
[1+((126-118)/118)] x 240 Minutes = 256 Minutes, therefore I expect to need (25.6 min x 14 lbs) =358 minutes (6 Hrs) Roasting to reach 126 Degrees, which I want to carry over into the low range of medium (138deg) as follows:

So the big variables here, that conflict with the recipe on Cooking for Engineers, are -
1) Should I expect 10degrees of carry over heat?
2) What do you think this medium will look like? I want pink throughout, but not bloody.
3)45 Minutes per pound at 200??? My math gets me close to 26.

I'd appreciate your thoughts on my approach- it basically assumes linear relationships, since I know nothing about thermodynamics, it is all I had to work with.

On December 20, 2007 at 10:33 PM, Guest (guest) said...

Subject: Hi Eric!

If you look back a few posts I had a ? similar to yours, it was about the 9 rib roast which is going to be about 20lbs, anyway from hearing from others I hear that the cooking time beetween a 4-5 rib roast and a nine rib roast isnt all that different. I recently cooked a 4 ribber and it took about 4 hours if i remember correctly. I can positively tell you from my experience that 11 hours is way way to long. It should take around 4-6. do yourself a large favor go to walmart and get yourself a digital oven thermometer that runs into the oven and into the meat, you can leave the display out on the counter and it will beep at your temperature. If you are cooking it and people start getting antsy because its taking a while just crank the heat up for the last hour or so and it will still come out delicious. and I also would rather make people wait a little longer to have it hot and fresh than have it done to early!!!!! hope i ahve helped you out!

On December 20, 2007 at 10:38 PM, GUEST (guest) said...

Subject: one more post after another.

I dont agree with those temperatures. i get my steak to about 135 then take it out of the oven and it is still mighty red, not pink at all, I dont like raw meat, I guess its all preference.

Ps make sure your oven is clean before cooking!!!!!!!

On December 20, 2007 at 11:17 PM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: Re: Hi Eric!

Guest wrote:

If you look back a few posts I had a ? similar to yours, it was about the 9 rib roast which is going to be about 20lbs, anyway from hearing from others I hear that the cooking time beetween a 4-5 rib roast and a nine rib roast isnt all that different. I recently cooked a 4 ribber and it took about 4 hours if i remember correctly. I can positively tell you from my experience that 11 hours is way way to long. It should take around 4-6. do yourself a large favor go to walmart and get yourself a digital oven thermometer that runs into the oven and into the meat, you can leave the display out on the counter and it will beep at your temperature. If you are cooking it and people start getting antsy because its taking a while just crank the heat up for the last hour or so and it will still come out delicious. and I also would rather make people wait a little longer to have it hot and fresh than have it done to early!!!!! hope i ahve helped you out!

Ha, this is true - I would hate to think of it getting soggy waiting for people to sit down to eat. Knowing my type of crowd though, if we have to wait an extra hour or two, we'll be too drunk to eat.

I'm going to split the difference and go for 5 hours- I'll start roasting around 12.

I have the digital thermometer, I'm just concerned that if I pull it kind of early, I won't get enough carry heat increase to let it keep cooking.

Alton says there was 10deg of carryover on his roast - but the other posters here saw much less - even at the same 200 degree roasting temperature.

On December 21, 2007 at 05:07 AM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: Hi Eric!

Anonymous wrote:

I'm going to split the difference and go for 5 hours- I'll start roasting around 12.

5 hours is probably a decent estimate - my last roast was a 15 pound boneless and at 225F it was going to finish in 4 hours. I had to drop the temperature to 170F to slow down the cooking (and then picked it up to 250 about an hour before I needed it done) so it would finish at the right time.

I had about 3 degrees carryover during the 50 minute rest. I carved prime rib for the next 45 minutes and there was still enough warmth in the last piece that I served.

On December 21, 2007 at 09:25 AM, guest (guest) said...

Subject: eric

listen to the others in here! When i take it out of the oven i never get that carryover either. I eat the meat medium rare, and i pull it out around 140-145 and the meat is still very red. I think 135 would be way too early. who wants purple meat?!! ps i cook at 225,

On December 21, 2007 at 01:32 PM, JoeinPhila said...

Subject: Carry Over?

So when you pull the roast with an internal temp of 140-145, it is still very red? Can you describe the redness a bit better? all of the charts Ive seen would put a 145 degree roast firmly in the medium zone.

I am pretty put off by the discrepencies in the amount of carry over heat people say to expect. I don't want to overcook this thing.

On December 21, 2007 at 02:52 PM, Dilbert said...

keep in mind:

not all thermometers are accurate
not all cooks use accurate technique

I have an old metal dial type from my aunt. it reads 12F' different than these newfangled 'lectronic thingies. perfectly good thermometer, tho, eh?

bone in / boneless makes a big difference in the amount of carry over I have seen. bones seem to be a heat sink . . .

sticking the thermometer so far as to hit the bone will produce a false reading. to be safe, I stick it in to where I _think_ is right, then I move in an inch both ways to make sure I'm not off by 50 degrees.

the higher the roasting temperature, the more carry over you get because (a) the overall time is shorter - some advice is roasting at 350'F
(b) there is less time for the higher temp to penetrate all the way through

if you pull the roast, allow it to cool, then stick in back in at 500'F to crust it, you'll get little to no "carry over" from the crusting bit.

Michael brought in "the voice of experience" - start your roast, check the temp and the time, raise/lower the temp based on how much time is left and the temp reached.

I start 4-5 ribs, bone in, at 235'F - I find the fat renders off a bit better with more than 200'F.

using the low temp long roast time approach I've never seen 10F' carryover. I wouldn't count on anything more than 4 or 5 F'

did you see the trick posted: keep a shallow pan of simmering broth handy - if you run out of "not done enough" slice it and put the slice in for a few laps in the broth pool . . .

oh, do NOT use the microwave to nuke it more done; this stuff is much too expensive for use on shoes.

I do hope your comment about dry aging the roast in the oven was a typo - the fridge is a better spot . . . .

On December 21, 2007 at 05:17 PM, GaryProtein said...

For absolute accuracy and precision, I like my Thermapen. They come with a serial number and the name of the inspector/calibration person when you buy it. You can use it to calibrate your other thermometers by placing them in a pot of water and seeing how they all register. I calibrated my Polder oven probe thermometer with it, and it was within a degree or two. DON'T use a thermapen to repeatedly check your prime rib. The holes you poke in it will drain out all the juice. You can also use a fever thermometer and calibrate your cooking thermometer--at least to the 100F/body temperature range, which should be close enough for cooking beef in the rare/medium range. At least you'll eliminate those thermometers that are way off.

On December 21, 2007 at 07:41 PM, JoeinPhila said...

Only problem I have with "the voice of experience" is that if the roast is done an hour or more later, won't it keep cooking if I stick it back in the oven? I have a brand new probe thermometer and oven thermometer, I'm counting on them. I'm thinking I may do 235 deg though, because I like the idea of rendering the fat. I'm used to cooking ribeye steaks by searing and throwing in them into a hot oven (500deg) for 2 minutes on each side.

Yep, aging in the fridge, not the oven, ha, I didnt notice that before.

so I guess I'll take the roast out of the oven when I wake up in the morning, let it sit in it's plastic aging box til it gets closer to room temp, and start at 235deg for 5 hours around Noon.

I'll adjust my calcs for 5 degrees of carry over cooking, and still try to land on the low range of medium. (135-138).

On December 22, 2007 at 10:04 AM, Dilbert said...

>> if the roast is done an hour or more later, won't it keep cooking if I stick it back in the oven?

I'm not following the thought here . . .

starting at room temp I suspect 5 hours is going to be a bit on the long side - but that's better than the short side because if you graph out time vs temp, assuming it is reasonably linear (works at low temp roasting) you can see at mid-time-point how it's doing and adjust.

forward thinking / planning is required - you can't wait until 45 minutes before sitting down to discover the roast internal temp is 100'F and jack up the temp to 500'

if the roast finishes early - take it out to stand, cover with foil & "insulation" i.e. towel/etc - it will stay warm for a good 30 minutes.

first time I did one I read some cookbook and started roasting at 350' -
checked the temp and the roast was _way_ ahead of schedule - I simply turned off the oven, left the roast in the oven - started again after 90 minutes.

On December 22, 2007 at 11:09 AM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: thickness, not weight?

I find the cooking times based on weight to be unreliable with a long piece of meat like a rib roast. Whether you are cooking a 3-rib roast or a 7-rib roast, the thickness is the same. Sure, you have cooking from the ends, but most of the heat has to penetrate through the sides. So, I don't see much difference in cooking time related to "length" of the prime rib.

I am doing a 12 lb. boneless rib roast on Christmas, using the Alton Brown slow roast method (start low, pull out at 120 degrees, rest for 30 minutes, heat oven to 500 degrees, put meat back in to sear for about 10 minutes). I'm figuring on about four hours to get to 120, a half-hour to rest, ten minutes to sear, 10 minutes to rest and 10 minutes to cut, totaling five hours.

I am thinking about starting an hour earlier and leave time to turn the heat off and let it oven rest, but the lowest my oven goes is 170 degrees. I can't turn it down to 120-130 degrees. Any thoughts?

On December 22, 2007 at 12:26 PM, GaryProtein said...

Your oven, previously at 500 for the sear won't go down to 120-130 for quite a while anyway, so I wouldn't use that. You could place it on a pan and keep the roast in a picnic type cooler which will keep the heat of the roast in.

On December 22, 2007 at 02:14 PM, joanne (guest) said...

Subject: LID ?????

:lol: Do I need to cover this with a lid or foil?

On December 22, 2007 at 02:52 PM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: Rotiserie time

I have a 10.5 lb bone in roast. I am dry aging it using the towel fridge method. I will be cooking it in a weber grill with rotiserie at about 200. How long do I need to plan on cooking it. I am going to use Alton Browns method of finishing at high temp for the crust. I am going to use a probe thermometer, but cannot monitor on the outside of the grill because fo the rotiserie. Please help!

Thanks! Terry

On December 22, 2007 at 09:27 PM, Guest (guest) said...

Subject: Terry

Hi Terry, I dont know what the situation looks like but i would get a plain meat thermometer and stick it in the meat and tie it to the meat with some butchers twine,then it should be able to spin and get the temperature at the same time, I dont know how but improvise!!

On December 23, 2007 at 09:23 AM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: Large Prime rib roast 18lbs

I have a dilemma - 18lbs prime rib, will pan sear, season, set oven to 200.

At 45 minutes per pound for an 18lbs roast to get to 145 - looking at 14 hours -- many have commented that this is TOO long.

Can others who have roasted large roast in and around the 18lbs please comment on time? Is 14 hours TOO long or should I be looking in and around half that time to get to a MEDIUM roast???

Thanks

On December 23, 2007 at 09:40 AM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: Re: Terry

Guest wrote:

Hi Terry, I dont know what the situation looks like but i would get a plain meat thermometer and stick it in the meat and tie it to the meat with some butchers twine,then it should be able to spin and get the temperature at the same time, I dont know how but improvise!!

That is my plan, but my problem is I need a ballpark done time to start opening the lid to check the temp. Don't want to have to open a lot because of heat loss. Does 4 hours sound about right??

On December 23, 2007 at 12:29 PM, an anonymous reader said...

here are several ROT's:
large roast + 10-11 lbs cut in half, distance to oven walls makes a difference.

use low/slow method, 200 F, until thermo reads 10 F, under target.

let rest foil covered until internal temp stops rising, no matter how long it takes.

remove thermo, plug thermo hole with clean golf tee.

set oven at max temp. brown to desired crustiness.

rest covered loosely with foil 10-15 minutes minimum.

Would like to see discussion based on total energy expended, BTU's per hour
etc

On December 23, 2007 at 03:37 PM, J. Kelsey (guest) said...

Subject: Great Directions

I am most certainly not an engineer. My Dad was, however, an Electrical Engineer at KSC for many years on the Shuttle Support Team. Though we often laughed at his inability to program the VCR (my son did it for him) we always respected him for his unquestioned brilliance. I love the way you put together the recipes and know that he would be proud.

We will dedicate this Christmas Standing Rib Roast to him and all those other slide rule engineers of the past and present.

On December 24, 2007 at 12:22 PM, bonbon (guest) said...

Subject: rib and pork roast

what is the difference between a beef rib club roast and a standard rib roast - how do I cook it?? time and temp?

Any one know about cooking a pork shoulder roast?? time? temp?

On December 24, 2007 at 05:05 PM, LindaT (guest) said...

Subject: HUGE Standing Rib Roast

HELP!!! I have a 12-bone standing rib roast that will barely fit into my oven. What do I do now? I know to bring it to room temperature and cook to approx 130F but, approximately how long will it take for this monster??? Thanks for any help.

On December 24, 2007 at 06:33 PM, Dilbert said...

<< 12-bone standing rib roast

cut it in half and figure on 4-5 hrs at 200 - 235'F

On December 24, 2007 at 06:42 PM, Dilbert said...

bonbon -

marketing names are always fascinating

see: http://www.meattrack.com/URMISfancifulNames.php

for the club rib roast

On December 24, 2007 at 09:09 PM, ky guest (guest) said...

Subject: excellent recipe

:P I have made several prime ribs using the slow roasting method described in this recipe and the 45 minutes per lb, always renders a perfect roast. My oven tends to run cool so I cook it at 215 degrees. I also make a crust of diced onion, garlic, salt and coarse ground black pepper. I season the roast with this and try to let it sit on the counter and come to close to room temperature with the seasoning coating on it, this can take up to a few hours depending on the size of the cut of beef. Another better seasoning crust is made with Regas seasoning for those of you in the Knoxville, Tn Area. Just coat sit and cook for a mouth watering dinner. I also like to add whole mushrooms to the baking dish when it has about an hour left to cook.

you'll get some crusting during "whatever" roasting method you choose -
searing at end allows for adjustments to potentially non-anticipated results. . . .

On December 25, 2007 at 07:56 PM, Dillonch (guest) said...

Subject: Senior Validation Engineer - New England

Just cooked a 16 lb roast this morning. Left roast at room temperature for five hours. Scheduled to cook from 4AM til 930 AM @ 200 Degrees F....Checked roast @ 8AM and found it was 125 Degrees F. I removed roast from the oven and "finished" from 8AM til 11AM. @ about 9AM it was 136 Degrees F. We dined at noon and the roast was a perfect 122 Degrees F. Everyone absolutely LOVED the roast!!!!Thanks for all the suggestions. ;)

On December 25, 2007 at 08:18 PM, http://www.cookingforengi (guest) said...

Subject: Thank You for all the great information

I just cooked a 6 Rib - 11lb Prime Rib w/Dry Rub Herbs.

After looking at all the great post above I finally did the following.

(NOTE:) Having gotten up late, I put the roast in the oven w/o allowing any time to set on the counter. The roast was 40 deg F when I placed it in the oven.

I preheated the oven to 450 deg F, but the second I place the roast in I dropped the temp to 200 def F, this seared the rub on very nicely. After 2 hours time, I raised the temp to 225 deg F (An above poster said they had better luck removing the fat at this temp). At 4 hours time, I had a core Temp of 115 deg F, and by the end of the 5th hour it was at 125 deg F.

I removed it from the oven, seperated the Roast from the Ribs and placed it on a platter to allow it to finish and collect some juices, (Be sure to cover roast in Foil). I only saw about a 4 deg rise in the core temp. The Meat was a perfect Medium Rare, even the endcaps were no more than Medium

For the Au Jus I took a 14oz can of Beef Broth, and and boiled off reminants from pan, added Salt, Black Pepper, and Red Pepper (optional) to taste.

I thank all the above Poster's for your great suggestion, Information, and Ideas.

On December 26, 2007 at 12:52 AM, Eddie (guest) said...

Subject: Slow smoked Rib Roast

Okay, folks. I'm not an engineer - yet. I'm a senior on a PhD path. Anyway, my Texas Smoker credentials are more relevant here than my formal education. That being said I'd like to add my two cents to the discussion, especially since it looks like some folks have inquired as to the efficacy of barbecueing a rib roast.

For Christmas Eve this year (yesterday) I cooked a 16 lb boneless rib roast. I bought it cryovac'd at Costco a week early and left it to wet age in it's own juices in the meat drawer of my fridge at 39 degrees Farenheit. I find that's a much safer way to age and it doesn't stink up your fridge.

At 9:30 AM I removed the roast from the fridge and washed it thoroughly, then left it uncovered in a cold oven to drip and warm. At 10:30AM I removed the roast from the oven, drained the juices and water, and proceeded to dress it. I rubbed a light coating of yellow mustard on the oustide, then canola oil, and finally a coating of kosher salt, lots of freshly cracked black pepper, and a tiny bit of onion powder. Then I placed it back in the oven to further warm (oven still OFF).

At 11:00 AM I started the fire in the smoker (custom smoker with offset firebox). I used approximately 10lb of Kingsford charcoal (NOT the mesquite kind) for early even high heat, and added large chunks of Hickory wood for smoke and flavor. After cleaning the grill surface and allowing the pit to heat evenly, I place the rib roast on the pit at 11:30 AM. I added more hickory chunks and allowed the roast to sit for 30 minutes - fat side down - while the temperature slowly varied from an initial temp of 400 down to 220 F. At that point I simply rotated the roast every 30-35 minutes and tried to keep a temp of 220-250. I know my pit fairly well so the temp stayed a fairly consistent 235 (1 inch above grill surface). You can also place a thermometer in the smoke stream of the pit being careful to not let it touch anything and verify the exit temp that way, though it will be a bit cooler than the internal temp of the pit. Anyway, I cooked the roast this way until 4:30PM, rotating it 180 degrees verically, but never horizontally. I then raised the temp of the pit by placing mesquite logs over the coals to bring the temp back up to roughly 450 degrees for 20 minutes (internal temp of 128 on the end furthest from the heat, 132 on the end furthest from the heat). At 4:50 I removed the roast to a disposable roasting pan, tented it, and left it to rest on my stovetop.

It lost less than a cup of juice in the pan over the next 30 minutes and final temps were 135 on one end and 140 on the other. The outer crust was phenomenal and the meat was extremely tender and beautifully pink on one end and slightly less so on the other. I did this because some of my guests prefer their meat slightly more "done" than others. If I wanted a more uniformly cooked roast I would simply rotate the meat vertically AND horizontally when smoking it.

To be fair, this is more barbecueing than smoking due to the temps, but it turns out so great that none of my guests complained.

Well, here's hoping some of you try smoking a rib roast. It's a flavor you simply cannot achieve in an oven - conventional OR convection. Oh, and don't fret over rib roasts so much, folks. It's pretty darn hard to mess it up as long as you don't overcook it! If you pull it out too early and it's still a bloody mess just fire up the grill, slap some butter on and make the most delicious ribeye steaks your guests have ever had!

On December 26, 2007 at 10:47 AM, Mike M. (guest) said...

Subject: My Results

I had a 9 lb roast from Safeway. I miscalcuated the time - I kept thinking it would take 4.5 hours at 200 deg. I was planning on getting it the oven at 12:30, which would be ready for dinner at 6pm.

I took the roast out of the fridge at about 10:30am. At 11am I realized I miscalculated the time, that 45min per pound is 6.75hrs, not 4.5. Dumb.

I preheated the oven to 450 deg. Put the roast in at 11:15, immediately turned it down to 250 deg. At 1:40pm, the temp was 90 deg. At 3:15pm, the roast was done - 130 deg.

I tented the roast and we ended up eating at 5pm. It was near perfect, and I got rave reviews from family.

On December 26, 2007 at 12:14 PM, Michel (guest) said...

Subject: and now for something totally different.

For Christmas we only had 4 people, so I did a 4-lb roast. I undid the strings, cut off the bone, and seared it for a few minutes directly over the coals in my little Weber. Then I put it in my smoker, over a pan of water, and set the smoker on the Weber right over the coals, using a Taylor meat thermometer with a cable probe to keep track of the temp. I took it off in 1 hr 15 minutes at 115° F, let it rise to 125°, and it was just perfect: medium rare toward the edges and blood rare in the middle. We all thought it was yummy!

Michel

On December 26, 2007 at 03:45 PM, Dilbert said...

yup - I had a four rib ca. ten pounder

put it in at 235'F
at +2 hours center was about 95'F - increased oven temp to 250'F
at +3 hours center was about 110'F - increased oven temp to 265'F

Just did a prime rib last night for Christmas Eve dinner - our roast was just a shade under 10 lbs. For the rub I used approximately 2 TB whole pepper and a scant 1 TB whole allspice; ground this in a mortar, added approximately 1 1/2 TB kosher salt, about a half-dozen garlic cloves, finely minced, 1/4 cup Dijon mustard, 1 TB dry mustard, and about 1 TB maple syrup. Mixed this together well, coated the roast with it and let is sit for about 1 1/2 hours before roasting. If I would have had more time, I would have let it marinate for a few hours more. Started it at 450F for 20 minutes, then lowered the heat to 250-275F until the internal temperature registerd 125F. Total cooking time was about 3 hours. Came out perfectly medium rare in the middle, with the end cuts at medium. The end cuts have a nice zing to them from the rub, while the middle slices had just enough seasoning without being too spicy.

How many people did your 10 lbs roast feed, and were the rib bones left on it? Sounds great.

Steve

On December 28, 2007 at 03:29 PM, Dilbert said...

that from cynicalb_repost was 2005 - might not hear anything . . .

but anyway, I did a ten pounder off the small end, bone in, four ribs.

the butcher left a bit more fat than I would have preferred (weight wise) - however it went for six with a extra thick slice leftover. no one went for a second slice - so depending on the appetite sizes involved you could get less.

On December 28, 2007 at 09:58 PM, Sillyboy (guest) said...

Subject: My Experience

Since I benefited from others experiences, thought I would add my own:

10 lb prime rib

1 hr at room temp
preheat to 450 deg
lower to 200 when roast is inserted.

I would call it ... med-well side of medium. More than I hoped, but edible at least, which is good for me :)

quite a bit of juice (~1 cup) "leaked" out during slicing. Hard to quantify, but easily a cup. I suspect a long rest would have helped there.

On December 29, 2007 at 12:54 PM, KCMOKen (guest) said...

Subject: Thank youEddie for the "smoking/BBQ" feedback

Thanks Eddie for the feedback on your using a smoker for your standing rib roast. I can control my smoker pretty well, but as you know this only comes from experience and using wood isn't quite as forgiving as using natural gas or electricity. Based on your comments, I will definitely try smoking a standing rib roast next time.

On December 31, 2007 at 11:37 AM, moo (guest) said...

Subject: itty bitty prime rib

Okay, okay - I already found out I blew it by purchasing a 2.05# prime rib (don't laugh - it's for my husband and ME, and we're not big eaters!). I'm sure the butcher got his laugh for the day when he sold it to me. But...the deed is done and I need to cook it -- medium rare. I've read comments to treat it like a big steak - how so? Is there any way I can cook this and end up with a lovely juicy red piece of meat. Help - this is our New Year's dinner.

On December 31, 2007 at 02:44 PM, Dilbert said...

Hi Moo -

I suspect not all is lost. the key is to roast it at a low temperature so the outside doesn't go crispy critter before the inside gets warm.

roast at 225'F - probably will not take more than 90 minutes if the oven if preheated and the roast is short of frozen.

do you have a thermometer to follow the interior temp? go for 135'F then pull it, cover and rest for 10-15 minutes.

On December 31, 2007 at 03:42 PM, moo (guest) said...

Subject: itty bitty prime rib

thanks, dilbert. i'll try it - i really appreciate the advice and yes, i do have a thermometer.

On December 31, 2007 at 05:34 PM, GaryProtein said...

moo wrote:

Okay, okay - I already found out I blew it by purchasing a 2.05# prime rib (don't laugh - it's for my husband and ME, and we're not big eaters!). I'm sure the butcher got his laugh for the day when he sold it to me. But...the deed is done and I need to cook it -- medium rare. I've read comments to treat it like a big steak - how so? Is there any way I can cook this and end up with a lovely juicy red piece of meat. Help - this is our New Year's dinner.

Don't worry, you can still save face. I'm sure the butcher thought you were having it as a large juicy steak. :)

Dilbert wrote:

Hi Moo -

I suspect not all is lost. the key is to roast it at a low temperature so the outside doesn't go crispy critter before the inside gets warm.

roast at 225'F - probably will not take more than 90 minutes if the oven if preheated and the roast is short of frozen.

do you have a thermometer to follow the interior temp? go for 135'F then pull it, cover and rest for 10-15 minutes.

On a ribeye (steak) rib roast that size, probably one good sized rib width, I would pull it at 130 absolute tops and let it rest or else it will be medium by the time you eat it. Temperature is going to be critical because it is a small roast. Don't overshoot your temp.

Happy New Year!

Its time for us on the east coast to get ready to party!

On January 01, 2008 at 09:25 AM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: 16-lb sstanding roast

I cooked a 16.25 lb standing rib roast last night, starting at 500 degrees, which I immediately reduced to 200 after depositing the Main Guest, which had been coated in olive oil and Montreal Steak Seasoning.

The roast had been out of the refrigerator for two hours before hitting the oven. Internal temperature 15 minutes after going in the oven was 44 degrees. It took 6 hours and 10 minutes to get to 128 at which time I pulled it. It continued to cook, reaching 133 after 35 minutes. I couldn't wait any longer so I sliced it then. It was a perfect medium-rare throughout, right out to the edges, and gave up practically no juice or fat in the cooking or at slicing, and was extremely tender and juicy.

The best roast I ever cooked, and my guests were amazed at how good it tasted. Several said it surpassed the best restaurant prime rib they had ever eaten. Ten of them went through more than half of it, less the bones, for which I have plans today.

Thanks very much to all the people who advised of their experiences here. All were very helpful, and I hope this is helpful to someone, too.

On January 02, 2008 at 01:22 AM, Wilson (guest) said...

Subject: Results from my 9# prime rib roast

Here's the breakdown on my cook time.

2:00pm
Started my 9# roast after preheating at 200*F and continue cooking at 200*F.

6:45pm
At 6:45pm the roast looked a bit pale @ 125*F (internal temp) so I ramped it up to 450*F for 15 minutes.

7:00pm
Backed down temp to 200*F (internal temp was about 127*F)

7:15pm
Removed from oven at 130*F.

7:30pm
After sitting for about ~15 minutes internal temp was at 134*F.

Results:
End cuts were about med
Rest of the cuts were about med rare. :) Very tasty & juicy prime rib! Thanks and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

-Wilson
:)

On January 02, 2008 at 04:14 PM, grusvag (guest) said...

Subject: feedback

Just wanted to share my results.

My roast was just over 5lbs and I used a 200' oven but I would not recommend basing your cooking time on 45mins/pound. I put mine in the oven based on that figure and it hit the target temp of 118' about an hour early. It took 2hrs and 20mins to hit 118' at which point I removed the roast from the oven, covered it with foil and let it rest a bit while I let the oven come up to 500'. Put the roast back in to brown for only about 10mins (this made me kind of nervous as the temp had already climbed perilously close to 128' for medium rare). I wanted my roast to be just below medium rare as I knew I'd be reheating the leftovers and would much rather it be slighly undercooked than over. Anyway, after browning it for about 10mins in the 500' oven I took it out and let it rest for about 30mins. Perfect (aside from being done about an hour early). Yum!

On February 14, 2008 at 04:12 AM, RubyR (guest) said...

Subject: Challenge for Michael Chu - Prime Rib CHOWDER

As seen in the Neiman Marcus catalog.
http://www.neimanmarcus.com/store/catalog/productImagesPopup.jhtml?selected=mg&item=prod36640147&pageProductId=prod36640147&yB=mg_prod36640147

Im making a 15# roast, boneless, for easter. tried your method with a standing rib roast and had to up the time to 51 min per pound. any other ideas as this way would take close to 13 hours to cook, me thinks. Help! thanks in advance!

On March 20, 2008 at 11:41 PM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: 15# rib eye roast

Anonymous wrote:

Im making a 15# roast, boneless, for easter. tried your method with a standing rib roast and had to up the time to 51 min per pound. any other ideas as this way would take close to 13 hours to cook, me thinks. Help! thanks in advance!

Why would this take 13 hours to cook? You can't estimate time by weight since surface area increases as well when you roast gets bigger and roasts basically only get longer, not uniformly bigger. My guess is it won't take longer than 6-7 hours.

On March 22, 2008 at 11:41 AM, glassmaker (guest) said...

Subject: Rotisserie

Hi All,
Has anyone tried any rotisserie rib? I have a four rib (8 lb) that I am doing tomorrow in the rotisserie. I am just curious on the comparison between the classic oven variations and the rotisserie?

I have engineered a Cook And Hold cabinet (CH6000) and the owner of our company wanted me to show some out of town sales reps how good it will cook prime rib. As we wanted to be sure it was done in plenty of time, and wanted to cook it overnight, we looked on the net for slow cooking instructions. I read enough of the postings to see that some people said it would take less and others said it would take all 45 minutes. It was a 14lb 7.4oz roast,200˚F at 45 minutes a pound would put it done 10 hours and 51 minutes. We put it in at 10:00pm (yep, made a special trip back to work to get the roast in the cabinet) figuring that it would be done around 9:00.

This may be a good time to fill in everyone about the cabinet. It is a convection "oven" that is plumbed directly into a water source to keep the humidity level up (moist meat). Digital controls, temperature probe, indefinite holding at another specified temperature...

Well, when we got here at 6:30am, it was already in hold mode. The clock indicated that it was done cooking around 3:00am. I stuck in a regular meat thermometer and the core temperature was 128˚F. When I finally cut the roast at 11:50 IT WAS BEAUTIFUL!!! From the first slice, it was as pink as a rare meat eater would want it to be cooked. Every slice was the same way. The roast was just as tender as it could be... So, my cooking time was about 21 minutes a pound, but the temperature probe did its job and put it into a hold temperature of 130˚F (instead of a Polder beeping at me)

Slow cooking is the way to cook prime rib!!! Thank you very much!!!

On May 08, 2008 at 10:24 PM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: Prime rib

Anonymous wrote:

So, my cooking time was about 21 minutes a pound, but the temperature probe did its job and put it into a hold temperature of 130˚F (instead of a Polder beeping at me)

I've written a few articles on prime rib cooking since I posted this one to Cooking For Engineers, so I can't remember if I've mentioned it before on CFE (because I know I've discussed it elsewhere):

Cooking time for prime rib cannot be calculated by X minutes per pound.

I'll try to put together a newer, more up-to-date prime rib article.

On August 21, 2008 at 06:45 AM, neeki (guest) said...

hi michael, great website you have here. i love the recipes and so does my family. my mother's bringing home a 2 kilo rib roast today, and i'd just like to clarify: when tying the roast, i tie it around, once at each end, between the ribs? um, sort of like a wrapped candy that's tied at the ends?
once again, compliments on this site. so far i've made the chocolate truffles, mushroom soup, chicken pot pie, pancakes, lamb chops, all to great success. and my mother loves your tiramisu recipe.
by the way, on the recipe card, you convert 200 F to 90 F; i'm sure you mean 90 deg C.

On August 21, 2008 at 01:11 PM, Michael Chu said...

neeki wrote:

i'd just like to clarify: when tying the roast, i tie it around, once at each end, between the ribs? um, sort of like a wrapped candy that's tied at the ends?

You only need to tie this roast if you've cut off the bones already (some butchers do it to make it easier to serve later - but if they do, they usually tie them back on for you). If that's the case, you just tie the roast between the ribs - no need for the other direction. If the ribs are intact, no need to tie this roast at all.

neeki wrote:

by the way, on the recipe card, you convert 200 F to 90 F; i'm sure you mean 90 deg C.

And this is why I love the web - I can fix typos discovered years later! I've actually updated it to 95 degrees C. Thanks for catching that!

On November 22, 2008 at 05:14 PM, mschweitzer (guest) said...

Subject: prime rib

Hi there,

I've never cooked a prime rib before. I'm doing an 11 lb. roast for Thanksgiving. There's no mention of whether to cover the roast or not--what is your preference? Also, at 200 degrees x 11 lbs. I will be cooking the roast for 8 hrs???? Can that be right? Thanks for the help!

convection oven add more variability - convection is not assumed in this slow cook method.

it is absolutely essential to use a thermometer and check the internal temps as you go along. if it's going too fast you have adequate notice to turn the oven down/off in getting the guests and the food ready at the same time.

if you have the option to get a dry aged roast from a good butcher, go for it. stuff in the supermarkets is not dry aged; you can do this at home - 3 days makes a difference, 5 days is max. in the home refrig.

On November 27, 2008 at 08:54 PM, Wilson (guest) said...

Subject: 2nd Prime Rib roast this year! :)

On January 02, 2008 I made a 9# roast and for Thanksgiving I we made a slightly smaller one at 7#. This one came out perfect again. YUM!

Thanks to everyone for all these great tips ... After reading, I made my first ever prime roast (for Thanksgiving) and it was fork tender ... Perhaps the best I've eaten anywhere! I use a Big Green Egg, which helps make me look much more talented than I actually am :-) But the tips posted here undoubtedly saved my bacon! Thanks to all!

On December 18, 2008 at 10:48 AM, Jason (guest) said...

Subject: NEED SOME HELP ASAP!!

I am preparing for the first time Christmas eve dinner for my family at my house a delicious or I hope boneless prime rib dinner. It's approximately 6 pounds and I was wondering if because it's boneless the cooking method needs to be modified from the instructions listed above. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! Happy Holidays

On December 18, 2008 at 11:09 AM, Dilbert said...

Jason -

being boneless it will cook a bit quicker - use a thermometer - essential to judge how fast it's cooking.

enjoy! prime rib is a seriously simple thing to do - season, roast. the entire key is use of the thermometer. you can adjust the oven temp as you go along to ensure it's ready when you want.

On December 22, 2008 at 03:01 PM, Tim Harris (guest) said...

Subject: Searing at beginning or end or BOTH?

I have a nice 7 pounder going into the oven today... I know searing at the beginning will lock in the juices, however, what if I seared it at the end also to get that perfect crust?

So what if I Sear at 450 at the beginning for 10 mins

then again at the end of the cook (when it reaches 128) for another 10 mins at 450?

Then let stand till roast hits 135.. What does everyone think?

On December 22, 2008 at 03:36 PM, billandcory (guest) said...

Subject: high Temp

Is it better to sear the roast at 500 first and then lower to ~200 or roast until almost ready to pull and then go to high heat

On December 22, 2008 at 05:02 PM, Dilbert said...

just to add to Tim's confusion,,,,

"searing to retain juices" - okay, #1, the whole theory is debatable, but past that #2 the implied theory applies to high heat grilling & roasting.

a prime rib roast will contract and not bleed all over the floor/pan - even at relatively low temps - without an initial "searing"

my approach is to cook it low and slow. when I hit 128'F (rare) then I decide whether it needs a high heat blast for a pretty crunchy crust, and judge the carry over cooking from that point.

On December 22, 2008 at 05:20 PM, Tim Harris (guest) said...

Subject: to sear or not to sear

Ok Thanks Dilbert,

i think I will take the approach of "wait and see" when it hits 128..

I DO however like my Prime Rib with a nice crust, I'll just blast it at the end if it is not to my liking...

I cant see it forming a crust at 200 F

On December 22, 2008 at 06:02 PM, jls (guest) said...

Subject: Rib Roast

I want to sear at 500 before cooking at 200. How long should I sear at 500.
It will be a 5 rib roast.

On December 22, 2008 at 06:06 PM, Dilbert said...

>>>cant see it forming a crust at 200 F

absolutely correct. it does not. but the low temps will bring lots of sugar and proteins to the surface that will make a nice crust.

I use the same low slow / then make pretty approach for chicken & turkey as well. it's way more easier to "apply" prettiness at the end than to correctly judge exactly the time and exactly the temp needed to create a chronologically simultaneous "meat done" and "meat pretty" event.

you can bake a chicken at 275 without a three minute situation of "it's done" to "it's burnt" - at that temp it stays nice and juicy even if you go get yerself lost for 20 minutes.

what's it take... 10-20 minutes at 500'F to make the skin crisp crunchy brown & purdy? much more fail safe approach, imho.

for prime rib, it's easy to "take what you got at <temp rare/med>" and turn that into "the most magnificent crust ever seen" than to undo the prior overguesstimated seared and now dried out miserable crusting and recreate something better.

one year I crispied / browned the turkey with a propane torch. absolutely beautiful, marvelous crunch to the skin, inside juicy and tender.

I call it the "roast not, bake&blast" method

On December 22, 2008 at 11:25 PM, schneidoog (guest) said...

Subject: 19.5 lb. standing rib roast

I have a 7 bone, 19.5 lb rib roast....please give me some help with what temperature would be best for such a large roast and how long will it take? I don't want to overcook this thing! I'm shooting for it to be medium. Would it be easier to cut it in half?

On December 23, 2008 at 01:21 AM, Vocabulary nerd (guest) said...

Subject: the "prime" in "prime rib"

Don't confuse "prime rib" with "USDA Prime." The phrase "prime rib" comes from the fact that the full, untrimmed rib roast is one of the seven primal cuts that a butcher divides a side of beef into, before cutting them into smaller portions. Other primal cuts are the chuck, brisket, loin, etc...

On December 23, 2008 at 03:12 AM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: 19.5 lb. standing rib roast

schneidoog wrote:

I have a 7 bone, 19.5 lb rib roast....please give me some help with what temperature would be best for such a large roast and how long will it take? I don't want to overcook this thing! I'm shooting for it to be medium. Would it be easier to cut it in half?

I did an entire rib roast weighing about 20 pounds for my 30th birthday last year and it took about 6 hours at 200F. The thing is, everyone's results are going to vary and there's no way to tell how long it's going to take for your cut in your oven - it's all going to be gross estimates and 10-20% off on a small steak is a few minutes, but on a roast this size it can be as much as an hour off.

You need to get a probe thermometer and take readings every half hour. When I do a roast that large, I actually plot the readings in a spreadsheet to see what the rate and estimated time when it will reach my target. I then adjust the temperature accordingly. Just start early and keep an eye on the internal temperature and you'll be fine.

On December 23, 2008 at 03:42 PM, MatK (guest) said...

Subject: rib roast

First of all I am an engineer.

I have used a similar method of roasting a rib roast, but I do it in a ceramic BBQ (Kamado #7 --see Kamado.com). The advantage of using a ceramic BBQ is that it keeps the heat in. The temperature adjustment is by controlling the amount of air (a bottom & top vent). I use hardwood charcoal (oak, hickory etc).

I prepare the roast by rubbing it with olive oil, cracked pepper and kosher salt.

I start by letting the BBQ heat up wide open (500+ degree F), then I put in the rib roast on the grill rib side down and let it brown for about 5 minutes. I then shut the dampers for about 15 to 20 minutes, until the temperature is about 350 degrees, then I adjust the vents to what experience has shown to will result in a "steady" temperature of 300 degrees or less. After about an hour, I insert a meat thermometer and let the roast reach a temperature of 135 degrees. Let it rest for 20 minutes and serve.

The cooking times are consistent with what other posters have stated. I have always had good results. The wood charcoal gives it a very mild smoky taste and there is a nice flavorful crust on the outside.

On December 24, 2008 at 07:50 AM, MeowMix67 (guest) said...

Subject: Great way to cook prime rib

I love this 200 degree method of low and slow. I have pan seared first with excellent results and I have not seared also with excellent results. I only sear about a minute on each side max. Let your roast sit on the counter a couple hours to get closer to room temp, don't put a roast right into the oven from the fridge and searing will not bring up the core temp. I have never done the 500 degree start then turn down the temp method so no tips there. Polder digital probe thermometer is my preferred choice - shove it in the meat and leave it there, the cord allows you to attach the unit to the front of the oven with a magnet so you can watch the temp rise without screwing around with the roast...I do not recommend constantly opening the door and jabbing the heck out of your roast over and over to check for doneness but you gotta do what you gotta do if you dont have a thermometer that stays in the whole time. Letting it stand 15 or so minutes once done is vital, I mean really vital. Do not cover your roast while it cooks. My oven runs 40-45 minutes per pound but I would suggest an initial safety check at 25-30 minutes per pound to be sure - rather have to cook it more then end up with pot roast. Oven roasting bags and prime rib no not mix so resist any temptation to use one.

On December 24, 2008 at 01:50 PM, roseroaster (guest) said...

Subject: beef boneless ribeye rosat

Okay so here I am visiting from out of town and I have been handed a 12.49 lb roast to cook. I have never cooked one of these things before and I certainly don't want to ruin it for 17 people!! I don't want to overcook it1! Help me out. Currently it's sitting on the countertop waiting for some action. Rose

On December 24, 2008 at 03:41 PM, Dilbert said...

Rose -

hopefully you have a meat thermometer - absolutely essential to judge "it's done!" I would make a special trip to the store if none is available.

other than that - rub in a salt pepper mix - add some paprika for color if you'd like - not covered, low sided pan, rack if you got one, roast away.

the low&slow method of this thread fame is good at keeping max moisture / juice in the meat. if you're short on time you can cook it faster ie at higher roasting temp but the thermometer is critical to ensure it does not go overdone.

check after the first 90-120 minutes and then more frequently as you get closer to finished temp - 130 for rare - there is an effect called carry over where the roast continues to cook even after you pull it from the oven.

forget not to let it rest for 15-20 minutes...veddy important!

On December 24, 2008 at 07:42 PM, EllenS (guest) said...

Subject: Slow roast beef

This is a great way to cook beef or lamb. I don't bother to sear it, and I don't bother to add salt. Try it without salt, it's still delicious and much better for you, or much less bad for you! Be patient. 200 degrees seems almost impossible, but it really does work. 45 minutes per pound is about right, but ovens do vary. Just leave enough time before you plan to eat to have the roast done and enough time to let it sit (in a warm place) while you make the Yorkshire Pudding. With the latter, I mix it up in a blender really early in the day, leave it in the blender, and give it a whirl every now and then. Letting the ingredients sit makes them puff up more. Also having them room temperature when you pour them into the hot pan helps with the puffing.

I dispense with the meat thermometer because I can tell by poking with a fork or my index finger how firm and thus how cooked the meat is. Because this cooking method results in such evenly cooked meat, I have found that this works for me.

On December 25, 2008 at 02:01 PM, Jaynie59 (guest) said...

Subject: Perfect prime rib

I found this site and this recipe a couple of years ago and it is absolutely perfect for medium rare. It comes out exactly as the recipe claims: you get perfectly cooked, pink, juicy meat from the center to the edges. I would not cook any roast without using a meat thermometer, so that's a given, and I only cook prime rib on Christmas so we have no set time to eat anyway so I just go by when it's done. So today we'll eat somewhere around 4. Or maybe 5. Who cares? It's Christmas and we've got all day.

On December 25, 2008 at 05:22 PM, MrsMaverick (guest) said...

Subject: Rib Roast

Covered or uncovered? I just put mine in the oven. Should I take the cover off?

On December 25, 2008 at 06:58 PM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: Cover on or Off

I have never cooked a roast w/a cover. In my opinion, I would say absolutely NO cover!

On December 25, 2008 at 07:57 PM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: Rib Roast

MrsMaverick wrote:

Covered or uncovered? I just put mine in the oven. Should I take the cover off?

No cover.

On December 25, 2008 at 08:07 PM, an anonymous reader said...

I had never cooked a rib roast on low heat before discovering this site. However we had the BEST roast we have ever cooked today thanks to the tips here.

Just a quick recap of the process we followed. I set the roast out of the frig about three hours before sticking it in the oven. I seasoned it with our favorite rub, inserted the thermometer probe in the roast and let it sit out on the counter until time to cook. I pre-heated the oven to 250F (my oven seems a little slow although I have never checked it with a thermometer). I put the roast in 5 hours from our desired eating time and shut the door and never opened it for fear we would lose the heat and increase the cooking time. Low and behold our 7 lb roast was finished to 132F internal in a litlle under 4 hours. I didn't jack the heat at the end up to brown the outside since we liked the finished product as it came out of the oven.

I let it rest about 30 minutes while we got the rest of the sides together and then we carved it.

It was beautifully med rare through the whole roast and was so tender you could almost cut it with a fork. I will never roast a rib roast any other way. By the way, the roast was purchased at Costo and was marked USDA Choice.

I agree...
I always prepare a RibRoast for Christmas Day with just my husband and children. It's been a tradition since I've been married (23yrs).
However, I have always cooked my roast using the standard 350degree temp, and it has ALWAYS resulted in a roast whose juices would spill out once carved, no matter how long I let it sit. Last year while searching the internet for a better solution, I found discussions of cooking at a much lower temp (250) and gave it a try. The roast was perfect! Dark pink all the way through without any bleedout of its "rareness". Today I cooked my roast (7.6lbs) at 200 degrees and then up to 500degrees to crisp up the exterior, and it's currently sitting for the allotted time, waiting to be carved and skoffed down! I am confident it will be even better than last year's 250degree roast. Nothing better than a perfectly cooked beast on Christmas Day!
Merry Christmas to all of you out there, cooking perfect prime rib roasts!
-Carole in Tucson AZ

Best.
Meat selection is of primary importance.
If unfamiliar with selecting meat, ask for help.
Purchase 1 to 1-1/4 pounds per serving.
Figure 1-1/4 pounds per serving if very ends will not be served.
The rub is also extremely important. Select per your taste.
Wash roast and coat with olive oil, if using a dry rub.
After applying rub, make small slices into meat and insert garlic slices.
Apply rub/garlic to roast 4 hours before cooking.
Bring roast to room temperature (two hours).
Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
Use shallow cooking dish.
Place uncovered into oven. Close door and set timer.
Cook for 5.0 minutes per pound for medium to medium rare.
(4.8 minutes per pound for medium rare to rare.)
Do not open oven door.
Turn off heat - set timer for two hours.
Do not open oven until two hours have passed.
Trim roast from bones; cut and serve.
Unsolicited compliments abounded, including 'Best Ever'.

On December 27, 2008 at 01:21 AM, Elsie (guest) said...

Subject: Cooked a 1-rib roast

Using things I learned on this thread, I made a 1-rib (2.25 lb) choice rib roast. Three hours sitting on the counter to warm up, then coated with a cobbled-together crust of cracked black pepper, garlic salt, chopped garlic and horseradish mustard.

I don't have an internal meat thermometer, so did it by the clock: 52 minutes at 200 degrees, then cranked up the oven to 500 degrees for another 13 minutes. Though I will say the oven never got over 400 in that time. I haven't lived here long and am still learning my way around the appliances. The pan juice managed to smoke enough in that time to set off the smoke alarm though...

20 minutes of rest, then serving. It came out rare, which is the way I like it, pretty good, with a potato and gorgonzola-topped broccoli. I will have to get a meat thermometer to remove the guesswork, though. Also some horseradish dressing, and skip the attempted crust next time, I think.

On December 27, 2008 at 05:05 AM, Nick Danger (guest) said...

Subject: Dangerous warming?

Michael,

I learned my food hygiene from Madeline Kamman, who was supposed to be the greatest teacher of cooks in recent years. She repeatedly cautioned about the need to move food rapidly through the "danger zone" between about 40 and about 130 when re-heating. That hot water method of re-heating seems to move the food through that zone very slowly.(of bacterial growth)

On December 27, 2008 at 05:16 AM, Nick Danger (guest) said...

Subject: Baking!

Also, per Madeline, this technique is not roasting at all, but baking -- she says it's an old institutional (large kitchen) style of cooking meat, that will give good average quality but, per her opinion, never a really succulent roast. (I've bothered looking this up because I was so curious as to why her advice was so different than the recipe here -- it certainly isn't because she was unfamiliar with this style, she just judged it inferior.)

On December 27, 2008 at 08:57 AM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: Thank you

This is by far the best roast I have ever prepared, thank you. And it was done on an outdoor gas grill, not by choice. Our 9 yr old son woke us up about 4:30 am Christmas Day to inform us we had no power. Luckily I had bought a generator 2 weeks ago due to an ice storm that caused us to be out of power for 5 days. The power had been off since 1:15 am so I wasn't about to loose the 10lb roast I had in the fride so i plugged it into the generator. I pulled the roast from the fridge at 8:45 and by 10:45 seeing that the power was probably not returning for our electric oven had to fire up the gas grill. A weber we have had for probably 15- 18 years now that was originally purchased to save a thanksgiving day dinner, but that's another story. I had to run only one burner, and occasionally fire a second burner trying to mantain a 200 degree grill, this was a tedious task but with no power not much else to do. For about a 10lb rib roast for 7.5 hours, pulled it at 131 and it was just like you said, perfect medium rare outside to inside, end to end, a leave in thermometer is key. Can't wait try this on a full rib roast in my oven on New Years Day. I may even consider using my wood fired smoker grill...Thanks again, John in NH.

On December 27, 2008 at 09:32 AM, Pat in Del (guest) said...

Subject: the best ever-Prime Rib

Yes, this slow-cook is the best method! I've been cooking a 'Roast Beast' for Christmas dinner for many years. I made one change, since my hubby loves the fat/cracklings on the top of the roast very well-done.
I switched to 'broil' for a few minutes, with 1 hour left to completion. (remove meat thermometer first!)

On December 28, 2008 at 02:27 AM, Gels (guest) said...

Subject: prime rib roast

Found your site after a google search. Decided to cook a prime rib roast when i found one on sale at the store for 3.99 a lb picked up a 8 lb roast used the slow cook methond set the oven at 200 f used a remote meat thermometer and when it hit about 130 i pulled the roast out and let it rest for about 30 minutes. it came out perfectly pink.

went out today and picked up a 16 pound roast for New years eve dinner will take better notes.

guessing it will take about 6 hours at 200 f

On December 29, 2008 at 07:57 AM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: 18 pounder

I have an 18+ rib roast for New Years Day dinner. Am I really looking at 13.5 hours? Or where it is larger is the total length of time going to be shorter. We'd like to serve at 5:30 but I'm not looking forward to being up until 1:00 to let it sit out for 2 hours to then put it in the oven at 3:00am.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

John, NH

On December 30, 2008 at 12:56 AM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: 18 pounder

Anonymous wrote:

I have an 18+ rib roast for New Years Day dinner. Am I really looking at 13.5 hours? Or where it is larger is the total length of time going to be shorter.

I really need to rewrite this article (at least partially). I should never have provided a time estimate based on weight since it's truly non-linear to weight. An 18+ rib roast will probably take you 4.5 to 6 hours to roast using the 200 degree method.

On December 30, 2008 at 11:07 AM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: Can you ellaborate

Michael,

Thank you for the reply. Would you mind expanding on your reply? I'm a bit nervous now that the difference in time is quite signifcant.

I do realize it is far more important to go by your thermometer than a generic minutes per pound, however you need to start somewhere.

Have you done a full rib roast, in this weight range?
Are you basing your 4.5 to 6 hours on your experience with a full rib roast in this weight range?
Is this recommendation using 200 degrees start to finish, not using a 500 degree for some amount of time initially then cutting the temperature down to 200?

By the way I tried creme brulea for the first time the other night using you're recipe. It was a hit with my son and wife. Can't wait to use it for New Years Day dinner with the whole familiy after the delcious prime rib.

On December 30, 2008 at 01:46 PM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: Can you ellaborate

Anonymous wrote:

Have you done a full rib roast, in this weight range?
Are you basing your 4.5 to 6 hours on your experience with a full rib roast in this weight range?
Is this recommendation using 200 degrees start to finish, not using a 500 degree for some amount of time initially then cutting the temperature down to 200?

Yes, this is based on experience. (See my comment on Dec 23, 2008.) This is not using the 500 degree initial heating period (although it probably won't really affect the total time estimate). I have never advocated the 500 degree blast (mainly due to the differences in people's ovens - how fast they cool down after coming up to 500 degrees, how fast they heat up to 500 if the blast is at the end, etc.). I like my recipes as repeatable by my readers as possible - so I use steps that are more controlled (not to say that a 500 degree blast doesn't work wonderfully - it does - it's just in some ovens it will prevent you from getting pink all the way to the edge of the roast). I don't like to comment on additions/modifications to the recipe that I post.

Having said that, if you want to know why large pieces of meat don't cook proportionally to the weight of the roast - a lot of it has to do with the size and shape of the roast. When a rib roast is compared to another that is twice as large, you'll notice that it simply gets longer. The surface area (not counting the ends) doubles when the roast doubles. The heat entering the roast on this surface area doubles as well (it's constant for any given square inch - it's doubled because there's 2x surface area). That means for a large roast that increases in length only, you'd expect that the cooking time would be the SAME for all roasts. However, there are the ends to be dealt with - the ends don't increase in size as the roast gets larger/longer - they are constant. So the total surface area of the roast doesn't actually double as the roast doubles in weight - it's a little less than 2x because the ends are constant size. (On a small roast - 2 ribs going to 4 ribs this is a significant amount of the surface area and the roast doesn't even come close to doubling in surface area; on a large roast the ends are a much smaller proportion to the surface area.) The difference in exposed surface area is one of the primary reasons why the cooking temperature isn't constant. In the small roast ranges 2-6 ribs, the cooking time seems fairly linear based on weight - but after that less and less additional time is needed to finish the roast; large roasts 15+ pounds pretty much take the same amount of time to cook. (There are plenty of other factors such as bone-in or out, bone orientation, roast orientation, position in oven, how well the oven retains heat, length of preheat time, temperature of roast, etc. These factors make it impossible for me to just say 4.5 hours or 5 hours and that's why I have to give a range of 4.5-6 hours.)

Hope that helps...

On December 30, 2008 at 02:57 PM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: Nervous in NH

Michael,

Again thanks for the prompt reply. My hat off to you for a great site and taking time out of your day to be so responsive, I'm sure this isn't your primary job.

Yes it does help. I'm a computer guy so technical answers are a pleasure. As long as you comfortable that 6 hours will be more than enough I use that, if it finishes earlier, I'll cut the oven way down or off, or we just eat earlier.

John, NH

On December 30, 2008 at 10:16 PM, DyeLooper (guest) said...

Subject: Prime Rib

Well, I have a 15+ lb Boneless Prime Rib that I will be cooking tomorrow for 14 friends. I'm gonna cook at 200F for 5-6 hrs. Wish me luck. All the advice here makes me feel very confident. Any other things to consider?

On December 30, 2008 at 11:29 PM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: Nervous in NH

Anonymous wrote:

As long as you comfortable that 6 hours will be more than enough I use that, if it finishes earlier, I'll cut the oven way down or off, or we just eat earlier.

Also, you'll want to add in up to an hour for resting. This should give you a nice window to hit - if it's done early, just turn off the oven - vent some of the heat and let it rest in there for 1 or 1.5 hours - no problem. If it's done a little late, just rest 30-45 minutes instead.

On December 31, 2008 at 04:35 PM, Shiprepair (guest) said...

Subject: Standing Roast

Wonderful Recipe. A neighbour of mine mentioned cooking Prime Rib at as low a temperature as he could and like you uses a probe thermometer. And then I found your recipe and decided to try it myself on my medium sized Big Green Egg Gril using natural charcoal.

I followed all your instructions which made a lot of sense, including searing the meat for a couple of minutes each side on the stove top. Air drying in the fridge for 24 hours was inspired.

The rib roast was asmall one 4.25 lbs and I did not use a thermometer but went with your estimate of 45 min. per lb. Placed the meat on a rack on a pan in the grill and cranked it down. It would only go down to 210F but after 3 1/4 hours it kept the temperature constantly. Took out the meat, set it aside for 20 min, carved it and low and behold, the slices looked exactly like your photograph on this site.

It tasted phenomenally. Best piece of roast beef I've had in many a year.

Congratulations, Great web site.

On December 31, 2008 at 06:11 PM, an anonymous reader said...

Are cooking bags (i.e. Renolyds) good to use for prime rib

On January 01, 2009 at 12:56 PM, squatch97402 (guest) said...

Subject: boneless rib roast

Years ago I started slow cooking whether it's in the oven or on the BBQ. The wife has also started cooking that way, changing from her mothers cooking of meat has to be done (dry). The wife for years now has been eating medium to medium rare cooking. I have never tried cooking a rib roast at 200F. My normal temperature is 250F. I have done several roast in rock salt which works out really great. Today I'm going to try the 200F roasting. I have been using the Morton Salt Recipe which calls for a 350F temp, but I have always cooked at 250F. Below are the seasonings that I use:

I have rubbed the roast with the above and now is marinating in a vacuum seal bag in the refrigerator. It's 9:30 and I will wait until 3:00 to start cooking at 200F. The roast is only 3 lbs since there is only two of us. French dips tomorrow. Happy New Year to all

On January 01, 2009 at 01:50 PM, Dilbert said...

Guest: No, do not use a bag - roast uncovered.

squatch - the salt bed sounds interesting - do you have any specifics on how it makes stuff do whatever it supposed to do (better - one presumes)?

I doubt that you'll find any significant difference between 200'F and 250'F - it will finish in less time but I don't think it's going to affect the overall result.

On January 01, 2009 at 03:21 PM, squatch97402 said...

Dilbert

The recipe is at the Morton Salt website. You use coarse Kosher salt. This is finer than rock salt, but grainier than table salt. You add water the salt to make a paste. What you are going to do is encase the roast in a salt blanket about 1 inch thick. During the cooking process the salt should become hard around the roast. All of the cooking juices stay within the roast that help make it tender. I have seen some restaurants use this method.

I never thought of using it for fish. The problem is there is only two of us and I do a Salmon fillet with skin on. I do a sour cream (should use cream fresche), mayo, horseradish, and parmesan cheese mixture. Coat the fish than roll in bread crumbs (I use seasoned croutons). BBQ on a gas grill on low indirect heat with smoke chips.

I seared on propane grill after brushing with olive oil then cooked at 250. The 7 lb'er was done in 4 or 5 hours. Cooked up some mushrooms in a pan using the fat and enjoyed the best darn prime rib i've ever had.

Next time I'll try the aging.

Thanks

Bobboe

On January 09, 2009 at 11:52 AM, itsallgreektome (guest) said...

Subject: Never new it was so easy!

Wow, never knew it was so easy, thanks!

On January 17, 2009 at 01:30 PM, oregondeb (guest) said...

Subject: prime rib seasoning

to season the prime rib or any roasted meat get some elephant garlic and grate the garlic and your onion together and mix with herbs and roast it. the garlic well be crusted and will be so great that you will be in 7th heaven

On January 26, 2009 at 05:59 PM, jeff (guest) said...

Subject: prime rib

I rub mine with olive oil browning sauce and the coat it with sreak seasoning before i cook low and slow

On February 03, 2009 at 07:31 PM, an anonymous reader said...

Mr. Michael Chu has provided the best practical method of roasting Prime Rib.
Upon reading the entire comments section; it is amazing the resistance of many to employing Mr. Chu's method. It makes perfect sense to "roast" a prime rib below the boiling point of water.
Personally I searched for years to duplicate the magnificant prime rib at a particular restaurant, a restaurant that served prime rib that was so excellent it was lightyears ahead of the nearest competitor restaurant. I even "dumpster dived" to learn the source and quality of the meat used -- it is simply boxed cryovac packaged USDA Choice boneless short loin primals from IBP or Excel, exactly the same as you can purchase whole at Sam's Club or Costco. I'd be surprised if very few restaurants except the most upscale actually utilize USDA Prime grade.
I eventually found a recipe essentially the same as Mr. Chu's (http://www.parshift.com/ovens/Secrets/secrets049.htm) employing the same low temperature process. All anxiety is now gone, preparing an excellent prime rib is routine and simple.

Applying "engineering" to a process that has so many variables is difficult, Mr, Chu does a great job in applying logic and intelligence to the method (perhaps more than engineering).
For example, unlike steel that has the exact same properties that never vary, two pieces of beef are unlikely to ever be the same due to how the animal was fed, the breed of the animal and countless other variables. People's individual taste is possibly the biggest variable of all.
Ovens (especially home ovens) vary wildly in temperature control, our kitchen oven at times varies as much a 50 degrees farenheit.
Engineering however does apply in the necessity for quantifying devices such as digital thermometers, which are absolutely essential.
I employ 3 digital thermometer probes, 2 for the meat itself and one to fine tune the oven temp. These probes (Taylor model 1470) are inexpensive, all three can be bought for half the price of the short loin itself.

For those who only do prime rib once a year and have been bombarded with recipes the can only be classified as "internet slobber" (including many of the Food Network "entertainers") have a small window for failure.
Advice -- employ Mr. Chu's method -- maintain your oven temp at 200 degrees farenheit, push a digital temp probe's point into the exact center of the meat and you'll get the best prime rib possible for your set of variables.

On March 11, 2009 at 03:44 AM, Mike (guest) said...

Subject: Ziploc Bags

Just a comment about the Ziploc bag reheating suggestion. Ziploc has actually saidf to not do this. Their bags are not designed to withstand the temperatures of boiling water and plastic can migrate into your food.

http://camping.about.com/od/campingrecipes/a/ziplocbaggies.htm

On March 11, 2009 at 03:18 PM, Michael Chu said...

I don't know at what temperature Ziploc bags start to degrade, but the water should be in the range of 120-140 F. Otherwise it would defeat the purpose and you'll have continued cooking of the outer meat while the inside is still cold. Of course this reheating method is time consuming, but produces some of the better results.

On April 07, 2009 at 01:27 PM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: Prime Chuck

Sam's Club had a marked down package of chuck, buck something a pound. (old meat is good, dry aged a little, old time butchers took home the meat that was greening because they knew it was more flavorful and tender(aged).

It was an extra thick cut, about 3 inches.
The marbling is what jumped out at me, what one would expect from a excellent quality steak.
I thought -- I'll experiment, digital temp probe this puppy, olive oil salt pepper, roast with Mr. Chu's 200° F method, blast 15 minutes at end for darkened crust, pull at 135° for medium, what do I have to lose, 6 bucks?

It wasn't exactly prime rib, BUT it wasn't far from it!
The chuck roast was absolutely the best I have ever had, the spouse remarked she never knew chuck could be so tender and taate so good.

Hi Michael, I'm wondering if you can tell me how to cook THREE 6-7 pound standing rib roasts at the same time. I'm making them for Easter I(the day after tomorrow) so if you or anyone else has an answer, please let me know asap. Thanks so much! And I love the slow cook method! Sound great! Marilyn

On April 10, 2009 at 01:57 PM, Dilbert said...

Marilyn -

I've done three six lbers at a clip in a standard 30 inch oven.

you will need more time - the oven heat is being absorbed by more mass.

On April 10, 2009 at 07:29 PM, kotanmj (guest) said...

Subject: Awesome Prime Rib

Just finished dinner and my sweety said it was the best prime rib he has had in years! Preheated oven to 500 degrees F and seasoned the roast with garlic, Pepper and Lawry's Season Salt. Placed it in a roasting pan (open) for 20 minutes. (2.6# roast/2 bones). Lowered the heat to 200 degrees F for 15 minutes a pound till thermometer read 130 degrees F. Took it out and let it sit while I made the Pudding. (1/2 batch) after standing for 20 minutes, it was over cooked for med rare. about 1/2 of it was med well and the rest was about med.

This is from starting it at 500 degrees and turning it down. Like Mr. Chu said, if you cook it at a steady 200 degrees it will cook evenly, if you don't follow directions it will not turn out the same!

It was still delicious, juicy, tender and not at all dry.

On April 12, 2009 at 07:54 PM, sfmunger (guest) said...

Subject: Boneless prime rib

In the interest of full disclosure I am not engineer nor do I play one on television. I was just looking for a way to not ruin another Easter dinner. I love roast beef but have never gotten them right. So I Google prime rib and to my surprise I find this article. It seemed so easy I took off for BJs Wholesale and grabbed a 15 pound boneless rib eye. I cut a 8 pound roast and made the rest into steaks. I made a paste of olive oil, crushed garlic, minced fresh Rosemary and some sea salt and freshly ground pepper. I followed your instructions, searing all sides, then covering with the paste and setting it in an oven at 200 degrees. I was skeptical as I didn't think anything could cook at such a low temp. I was very wrong. I have eaten prime rib at a lot of restaurants and weddings and this one matched and surpassed the best of them. Thanks for posting your recipe and thanks to everyone else that posted reaffirming that this was the way to go.
I made a killer prime rib, melted in my mouth and my wife thinks I am the nads.
Steve

On April 18, 2009 at 04:04 PM, mecheng1 (guest) said...

Subject: what a great website

This will now become my favourite cooking website.
It's so refreshing to hear from other engineers on this subject.

On June 02, 2009 at 01:44 PM, Jackie (guest) said...

Subject: boneless roast?

Hi ~ Love this sight and particularly this recipe - I've used both many times since I initially stumbled upon it back in 2005. :) I, too, prefer a standing rib roast. However, I have a large boneless prime rib roast (do you still call it a rib roast when it has no ribs?) - in any case - same piece of meat with no ribs. Do I need to make any adjustments to time per pound or temperature to follow this recipe for a boneless roast? Thanks so much ~ Jackie

On June 02, 2009 at 04:44 PM, Dilbert said...

Jackie -

hopefully you have a thermometer to help with the roasting -
but specifically to your question, yes - the cooking time will be less because bones do soak up quite a bit of heat energy.

regrets I can't say by how much exactly - actually never done one without the bones <g>

but you should be using the thermometer and not just x minutes per pound type of thing.

On June 02, 2009 at 08:26 PM, Jackie (guest) said...

Subject: Thanks :)

I do have the polder model that you recommend, so I will follow all other recommendations for the recipe and decrease the overall time. We'll just be good and flexible in our dinner time that night! :) Thanks again - Jackie

On June 03, 2009 at 02:30 AM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: Thanks :)

Jackie wrote:

We'll just be good and flexible in our dinner time that night!

Dinner time doesn't necessarily have to be flexible. If you take regular samples (every thirty minutes or so), you can see how fast the roast is cooking and then modify your temperature (turning it down to 170 if you think it'll finish too early; turning it up to 250 if you realized it's taking longer than expected) to try to hit a window. I've had pretty good success with this method.

On June 04, 2009 at 03:33 AM, Jackie (guest) said...

Subject: boneless roast?

Hi Again ~ My roast is 15 pounds - boneless - do you think six hours seems like a reasonable ball park - then I will adjust the temp up or down as I monitor the internal temp? It goes in the oven in the morning. Thanks ~ Jackie

On June 04, 2009 at 03:41 AM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: boneless roast?

Jackie wrote:

Hi Again ~ My roast is 15 pounds - boneless - do you think six hours seems like a reasonable ball park - then I will adjust the temp up or down as I monitor the internal temp? It goes in the oven in the morning. Thanks ~ Jackie

Looking at the spreadsheet I have from the last time I did a 15 pound rolled rib roast, six hours seems reasonable. It took me four hours to go from 36F to 120F at which point I turned off the oven (but kept the roast in there) to slow down the cooking for an extra hour or two before turning the oven back on to bring it to its final temp.

My guess is that you'll have your roast done in about 5.5 hours give or take. Remember to leave time to rest the roast after you remove it from the oven. For a roast that large, I'll rest it for 45 minutes and it will usually hold it's temperature for serving for a good hour after that.

On June 16, 2009 at 12:08 PM, montymoose (guest) said...

Subject: TRI TIP

I have been using the slow cooking temperature and timing used on the Prime Rib area for my Tri-Tips and its given fantastic results! The roast has been uniformly rare to medium rare through out the entire piece of meat and the tenderness from cooking at the low temperature is marvelous.
I do score the fat and use humongous amounts of crushed garlic and mustard smothering the roast along with other things I like to add and the condo smell likes the Gilroy garlic festival.
Thanks for the great idea

On July 25, 2009 at 11:40 AM, an anonymous reader said...

I cooked one 2 weeks ago by putting some olive oil in a pan and searing all sides. Then I smothered it with salt and pepper and stuck in the 200 degree oven for what ended up being almost exactly 45 minutes per pound (4 lbs). It came out absolutely perfect. I have a 6 pound one that is sitting on the counter now getting ready to be put in the oven and I am doing it the same way accept with the adition of Garlic under the fat.

On August 10, 2009 at 01:26 PM, MeowMix67 (guest) said...

Subject: Perfect way to do rib roast

This is so fool proof it's almost funny. My roast cooked this method rivals any restaurant around. I also roast a traditional roast beef this way and it also results in med-rare all the way through and is also very tender. I am going to try this with a fresh ham (uncured pork roast) and see how that works. Follow this to the letter and even those who think they can't most definitely can!

On August 10, 2009 at 02:56 PM, Dilbert said...

MeowMix -

the "low and slow" method works for a lot of meats / cuts. it suffers from the all too popular "and I want it now" mentality / approach of hectic living.

Having cooked quite a few Prime
Rib dinners for my Masonic Lodge and also having catered a few Prime Rib dinners for other organizations, an important thing to remeber is in the selection of the meat itself. For the past 8 or 10 years I have always gone to Cash and Carry (a semi commercial grocer that is in my neck of the woods) where in the chill box they will have many full size prime ribs, ssome with bone and many more without. When the roast is cold, the fat congeals so it is firm to the feel. The lean portion doesnot congeal so it is soft to feel. Cash and Carry will normally have 8 to 15 cases (about 6 roasts to a case) and I have gone through several cases feeling each and every roast until I come up with 4 or 5 that I need for the upcoming dinner. They usually run about 14 to 15 pounds each without bones and we usually figure about 10 to 12 ounces raw per serving.

On September 21, 2009 at 11:27 AM, Fred (guest) said...

Subject: Multiple Roasts

Michael, I've been slow roasting for years, but your techniques have helped me to achieve consistent results, so thanks for being here.

Help me with a new problem, if you will. I need to cook two roasts, and need to estimate cook time. Do I consider the combined weight of the two, or estimate for each? Example: @25 minutes/pound, a 10 pound roast would take 250 minutes. How long would it take two 10 pound roasts?

Fred

On September 21, 2009 at 11:37 AM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: Multiple Roasts

Fred wrote:

Help me with a new problem, if you will. I need to cook two roasts, and need to estimate cook time. Do I consider the combined weight of the two, or estimate for each? Example: @25 minutes/pound, a 10 pound roast would take 250 minutes. How long would it take two 10 pound roasts?

Even for a single roast, the x minutes / pound equation doesn't work. The amount of energy being absorbed by the roast is mostly governed by surface area, so cooking time is most closely related to surface area / volume. If 250 min. works for you for a 10 pound roast, then something close to 250 minutes will work for you with two 10 pound roasts (of similar dimensions). It isn't quite that simple since the oven has to be able to maintain consistent temperature and have infinite heat capacitance and there's airflow around the roasts to consider, etc, but I would guess that if given adequate spacing (a couple inches between at least), the extra roast shouldn't increase cooking time by more than 30 minutes. Start checking when you normally would and don't be surprised if the time comes out remarkably close to if you roasted only one.

On September 21, 2009 at 01:00 PM, Fred (guest) said...

Subject: Multiple Roasts

I appreciate the quick response, Michael. 25/lb was simply for illustration. I'll use my past results (duly recorded) to determine the actual. However, your answer was exactly what I needed to know.

So, 2 shallow pans, 2 thermometers and an extra 30 minutes are now part of my plan. From one engineer to another, thanks.

On October 16, 2009 at 03:20 PM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: Below The Boiling Point of Water

Roasting Prime Rib (or any other roast) below the boiling point of water is critical.
My oven cycles on at 197 degrees F and off at 205 degrees F maintaining temperature below the boiling point of water.

Why is that important?

Temperatures above 212 degrees will boil the water out of the Prime Rib drying out the meat.

Temperatures below 212 degrees will retain the water and importantly the water facilitates conduction for a nice even raosting.

Another benefit of temps below 212° is far less rendering of internal fat.

On November 06, 2009 at 10:28 AM, suzyjpq (guest) said...

Subject: slow roast prime rib

This recipe results in the most delicious prime rib ever! I coat mine with cumin and horseradish in addition to salt and pepper after inserting a few cloves of garlic in the fat. Absolutely scrumptious. And no hassle with the cooking. It does require around the holiday time that you plan your pie baking in advance as your oven will be tied up for a significant period of time if you're cooking for a crew. But it actually makes my life easier to have my pies baked a day in advance and then just let this baby cook nice and slow on the holiday...
Thanks to all the people who commented, too. I haven't tried the mustard yet but intend to...

On November 29, 2009 at 05:40 PM, an anonymous reader said...

Thanks so much for the tips! I just fed our family of 8 and everyone loved it. It was easy to cook, the meat was tender, juicy and flavorful and I have to admit, one of the best meals I've ever prepared. This is definitely the way to go.

On November 29, 2009 at 05:46 PM, Dilbert said...

Subject: Re: Below The Boiling Point of Water

Anonymous wrote:

Roasting Prime Rib (or any other roast) below the boiling point of water is critical.
My oven cycles on at 197 degrees F and off at 205 degrees F maintaining temperature below the boiling point of water.

Why is that important?

Temperatures above 212 degrees will boil the water out of the Prime Rib drying out the meat.

Temperatures below 212 degrees will retain the water and importantly the water facilitates conduction for a nice even raosting.

Another benefit of temps below 212° is far less rendering of internal fat.

so,,, if you roast the prime rib to an internal temp of oh,,, say 130'F - just exactly how does the "water boil out of the meat" because the oven temp may be set on 250'F ?

horsefeathers.

On December 10, 2009 at 03:43 PM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: How to get about 1/2" of close to well done?

Hi all old chemist here. Been cooking rib roasts for many years with variations on the above method. I find that many restaurants have about a 1/2" of almost well done meat on the outside with a great herb flavor.
I really like this 1/2" of meat along with med rare for the rest of the roast.
So I how do I duplicate this without messing up the rest of the roast.
I usually cook first 20-30 minutes at 450F then pull the roast and cool the oven to 250F and preceed from there, but I am not getting that 1/2" outer layer that I like,its thinner.
Thoughts, how dangerous to increase my time at 450F or is there a better way.
Thanks
Old Mike

On December 10, 2009 at 04:50 PM, Dilbert said...

Mike -

try reversing the temp curve - roast low&slow, then jack it up at the end to get the crisp crust & 'done' penetration you want.

a thermometer with a long probe is a real asset here - with a long enough probe to reach the center(+) you can judge the interior rare.

then with the high heat - 450'F or better - you can measure temps in the first inch or so - 165'F would be well done. the 'finish' should only take max 30 minutes (not removing the roast for the 'preheat') and since temp is moving from the outside to the inside, you can cut it off where you'd like it.

On December 11, 2009 at 04:42 PM, an anonymous reader said...

Hi,

I saw on david rosengargen's taste program in the mid 90's that "Prime"
in prime rib comes from the fact that it is a "primal" cut of beef. Not really related to the usda grading.

Nevertheless, a tasty piece of beef!

On December 11, 2009 at 04:49 PM, an anonymous reader said...

Dilbert Thanks: I have done roasts both ways, I like the high temp first method,with a slow cook. For my next Christmas dinner for 10 people in a few weeks, I will pull the roast at a lower temp and also do an additional high temp finish. I use a calibrated long probe mechanical thermometer to get close then an instant read probe to make sure I am at the correct temp.
I will probably need to do two roasts again this year, found out last year that it is a little tricky, they did not cook at the same rate.
Mike
Old Chemist

On December 11, 2009 at 05:32 PM, Dilbert said...

>>"prime rib" is not necessarily USDA grade prime

this is true.

oft called a "standing rib roast" - the "prime" in "prime rib" is not related to USDA grading specifications.

excellent point for this thread - thanks!

On December 11, 2009 at 05:58 PM, Dilbert said...

Mike -

I normally slow roast a prime rib at 235'F - a bit lower but not likely to hugely differ from your experiences. seems that "beef fat rendering" happens somewhere between 235'F and 245'F . . .

the blast&slow vs slow&blast thing is a curious dilemma - but I think there is an explanation to why it works / doesn't work for various folk,,, depending....

the "pro" for slow first, toast last, is it is more difficult to "overdo" the toast. the slow roast first gets the meat 'done' ala thermometer / preference perfection - then it's just a matter of blasting it to "make pretty" - attention span more likely 'focused' . . .

the "con" I've seen is gosh, the post slow-roast meat surface just doesn't quite react the same as "fresh into the blast furnace." methinks I get more better crisp & crunch & caramel with the "blast first" method.

the caveat is: blast thee not too long! and perhaps that's where some folk go astray.

using a 235'F slo-fast roast routine , my experience is the 'medium' stage extends only to the first 'fat' layer - which could be half, 3/4, mebbe an inch, into the roast. the heat energy absorbed by that outer fat layer 'rendering' seems to protect the (further) interior parts.

I'm still using my centuries old non-electronic non-instant non-digital Taylor dial thermometer with an 8" probe. now and then I check it in boiling water - not sure it it is perfectly accurate - perhaps I've been calibrated to "it" - but heh, works in this house!

On December 20, 2009 at 06:28 PM, Skyelydoo said...

Subject: Roaster oven and prime rib

Has anyone had experience with using a roaster oven to roast prime rib? I have the aforementioned beast and have checked it's temperature with a calibrated oven thermometer...strangely, it's right on. My question is: would the roasting time be the same in a roaster oven as in the oven in my household range? Or will the difference in oven cavity size make a difference in the roasting time. I'll be roasting Friday morning. Thanks for the wonderful site!

On December 20, 2009 at 09:15 PM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: Dlibert's horsefeathers: A debunking.

Dilbert wrote:
"so,,, if you roast the prime rib to an internal temp of oh,,, say 130'F - just exactly how does the "water boil out of the meat" because the oven temp may be set on 250'F ?"

Respectfully Mr Dilbert, perhaps a study of the principles of vapor pressure as it relates to culinary arts will be informative, if not absolutely educational.

Conserving the internal juices and the internal fat in the meat is critical.
Alton Brown debunked the widely disseminated internet myth that searing meat "locked in the juices". MYTH BUSTED the Mythbusters would be proud.

If anyone still doubts the 200-210 degree roasting temperature as near ideal (for prime rib), go study the barbeque business where the meat is cooked for 10-12 hours at 200 degrees (and below) yet it maintains its juicy goodness and acheives a perfect tenderness.
It isn't an accident the cooking temperatures are below the boiling point of water.
I have roasted prime rib at 185-190 degrees and achieved a perfect pink medium rare across the entire cross section of the ribeye.
Perfect in juiciness.
Perfect in tenderness.

That perfect crust?
Personally I can do just fine without it, but many associate a tasty salty crust with the prime rib experience.
310 degrees is where the Maillard Reaction occurs. Remember it.
Lots of methods to get there without turning the meat into charcoal.

I have done it with a extra heavy duty propane torch, the kind professional roofers use to install melt down roofing.

The best results were obtained from over a charcoal grill. 10-15 minutes rolling on a hot grill produces near perfect results, very similar process to grilling a steak. Radiant heat seems best.

In an oven (with door open) under the broiling element also takes advantage of radiant heating. (Famous Peter Luger's Steak House uses the broiling method to do their porterhouse steaks)

On December 20, 2009 at 10:57 PM, roblem (guest) said...

Subject: chimney tile

I have a 13" square chimney tile that I put the roast into for cooking. The ceramic does a beautiful job at keeping the temperature at an even 200 degrees, and it's cheap. I cap up the ends with heavy foil.

One note though. The tile's going to be longer than your oven, and you'll need to cut it to length. Don't wait until Christmas eve to do this, your neighbors will hate you, and the snow will be uniformly tinted brick-red. :-)

rob in NH

On December 21, 2009 at 08:56 AM, Dilbert said...

>>Respectfully Mr Dilbert, perhaps a study of the principles of vapor pressure as it relates to culinary arts will be informative, if not absolutely educational.

I did not major in thermodynamics, but since you are boiling away the water inside the meat at 130'F I presume you are roasting it in a vacuum chamber.

are you perchance confused about "boiling" vs. "evaporation"?
evaporation is a surface effect - not going to happen "inside" the meat.

On December 22, 2009 at 08:27 AM, an anonymous reader said...

<<<I did not major in thermodynamics, but since you are boiling away the water inside the meat at 130'F I presume you are roasting it in a vacuum chamber. are you perchance confused about "boiling" vs. "evaporation"? evaporation is a surface effect - not going to happen "inside" the meat.>>>

Respectfully Mr Dilbert, I have neither the time nor the inclination to educate the uneducable or to engage the compulsively argumentative.

------------------------------------

Mr Chu, the originator of this forum, has it 100% correct, 200 degrees farenheit is the ideal roasting temperature.
It is astounding the number of posters that come here to argue for argument's sake instead of learning or to proliferate the same tired useless internet babble that contaminates the web.

Roast your prime rib at 200 degrees farenheit.
Follow Mr Chu's instructions above and you will have a prime rib equal to or better than the best prime rib in any restaurant.

Where to buy a decent ribeye roast?
Sam's Club is now selling Certified Angus Beef, choice grade.
Checkout the packaged ribeye steaks in the display case for an indication of quality. Been looking excellent the last while.
If you can't use the whole cryovac 15-16 pound primal, ring the bell ask the butcher if he'll cut one in half for you. He most likely will as he can cut the rest into steaks for the display case.

On December 22, 2009 at 09:03 AM, Sally (guest) said...

Quote:

On September 05, 2009 at 01:02 AM, an anonymous reader said...
Having cooked quite a few Prime Rib dinners for my Masonic Lodge and also having catered a few Prime Rib dinners for other organizations.
An important thing to remember is in the selection of the meat itself.
For the past 8 or 10 years I have always gone to Cash and Carry (a semi commercial grocer that is in my neck of the woods) where in the chill box they will have many full size prime ribs, ssome with bone and many more without.

When the roast is cold, the fat congeals so it is firm to the feel. The lean portion doesnot congeal so it is soft to feel. Cash and Carry will normally have 8 to 15 cases (about 6 roasts to a case) and I have gone through several cases feeling each and every roast until I come up with 4 or 5 that I need for the upcoming dinner.
They usually run about 14 to 15 pounds each without bones and we usually figure about 10 to 12 ounces raw per serving.

Very good point.

No two pieces of meat are the same.
It is a variable that without the experience such as yours in the selection of the best from similar looking pieces that places the amateur cook at a disadvantage.

Often the disappointment with a finished prime rib being less than desired has more to do with the meat itself than the roasting method.

Thanks for pointing out that comparing the "softness" of meat is a good indicator of quality.

If you experience a disappointing result while employing Mr. Chu's low temperature slow roasting method, remember it could be the particular piece of meat you chose. Don't give up, try again.

On December 22, 2009 at 10:37 AM, cordini said...

Okay, I need help.....As a non-engineer, but having several friends who are, I have a couple of big boneless Ribeye roasts to do for Christmas Day. The 1st weighs in just over 14 lbs and the other is just under 12 lbs. Using the 200 degree cooking temperature method, what kind of time estimate would I be looking at in order to meet a 1 pm CST serving time? Would it be better to set my oven to the convection method or simply go traditional cooking under the roasting option? And finally, do I place these on a wire rack in each pan, or should I just put them on the bottom of the pan? After getting the "Sticker Shock" :shock: for the prices of these mammouth pieces of meat, I do NOT want to screw this up.....Any & ALL help is very much appreciated! Thanks!

Cordell Hanson

On December 22, 2009 at 01:43 PM, Larry (guest) said...

Subject: 16 Pound Rib Eye Roast - delicious! thanks!

I read most of the posts on this stream. It was very useful. I had 20 people over yesterday and we served a 16 pound ribeye roast (with bones). It was the entire rack. It worked out beautifully, thanks to this site. This is what I did:

preparation (I did two hours, but probably better if longer)
1) took the roast out of the refrigerator 3 hours before roasting.
2)I slivered some garlic and inserted them in the sides and top of the roast (approx 4 cloves sliced into 20 slivers).
3) made a marinade out of olive oil, lots of kosher salt, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper and a touch of cumin. Sorry, I am not an engineer, so no measurements! Minced half a medium yellow onion (into fairly small pieces) and added it. Rub it into all meat surfaces and let stand.

searing
Preheat oven to 500 degrees on convection roast(this took 30 minutes in a Wolf range due to no exposed heating elements)
put to roast in for 7 minutes, then rotate for another 7 minutes (due to the convection fans blowing hot air from the back of the oven.

roasting
I was concerned about the oven not "cooling off" fast enough from 500 degrees to 190degrees. So, I opened the oven door, took to roast out, put in the temperature probe (very handy for roasting meats), waited 5 minutes (to let to oven cool off), then put to roast back in.

I am not sure what the temperature was in the oven when I returned the roast (I do not have an oven thermometer and did not bother messing with the knob to measure the temperature). My guess is that it came down to 350 degrees or so.

I set the oven to 190 degrees, set the probe at 125 degrees internal temperature, then let it roast. Based on the posts, I thought it would take 6 hours. But after 4 hours, the temp reached 121 degrees and I pulled it out and covered it with foil. The temp raised to 132 degrees, then cooled to 110 degrees (based on instraread thermometer readings)

Dinner was not for 3 more hours, so I waited until one hour before serving time, then returned the roast to a 170 degree oven. The probe was now "confused" since the internal was only showing 109 degrees, but I knew it had reached 132 degrees earlier. I let it roast for 10 minutes, then pulled it out. When I cut the roast in the middle, it was perfectly medium rare (Whew!).

I served it and it was a big hit. the cross section of the meat has about 1/4 inch seared and the rest of it was uniformly medium rare. Also, one cut in from the end cut of this large roast was about as medium rare as the center of this roast. So, almost an entire roast of medium rare.

We ate almost the entire roast, with some kids having 4 servings. We only have about 3 slice left in the fridge. That will probably disappear today!

Lessons: it is well worth the trouble, but the timing is a bit tricky, so watch the internal temperature. My guess is a 16 lb roast would take about 5 hours including searing (without the time out we had yesterday).

On December 22, 2009 at 02:40 PM, mf15 said...

Subject: Experiment

Bought one Angus and one regular choice grade both from the Acme /Lancaster Brand, I tried to pick the choice piece with as much small flecks of fat as the Angus had. Will evaluate the quality of the meat as to taste and tenderness between the two pieces. This will be a small sample population of 10 people, but since I will be tasting it myself
my judgement will decide on what to buy next year.

Old Mike/Retired Chemist

On December 22, 2009 at 03:25 PM, Dilbert said...

>>It is astounding the number of posters that come here to argue for argument's sake instead of learning or to proliferate the same tired useless internet babble that contaminates the web.

Roast your prime rib at 200 degrees farenheit.
Follow Mr Chu's instructions above and you will have a prime rib equal to or better than the best prime rib in any restaurant.
>>

ah nuts, here's some interesting babble:

/quote
Mr. Chu:
"Dinner time doesn't necessarily have to be flexible. If you take regular samples (every thirty minutes or so), you can see how fast the roast is cooking and then modify your temperature (turning it down to 170 if you think it'll finish too early; turning it up to 250 if you realized it's taking longer than expected) to try to hit a window. I've had pretty good success with this method."
/unquote

apparently the water in his roast does not boil.

On December 22, 2009 at 03:55 PM, Michael Chu said...

Dilbert wrote:

apparently the water in his roast does not boil.

Sigh. I really didn't want to chime in on this. The anonymous poster who is defending the 200F cooking method is on the right track, but scientifically incorrect. Dilbert is right on this one.

The water/liquid in the roast does not boil - even if we cooked the thing at 350F.

The liquid loss is due to evaporation as the deep interior of the roast never exceeds 135F and the exterior (although reaching temperatures high enough to boil water, long since loses all its water content due to evaporation at lower temperatures as it is brought up to its final temperature). By far, the biggest reason for liquid loss due to evaporation is the "squeezing" out of water stored in the cells out to the exterior of the roast where it evaporates. This is caused by the constriction of proteins as they increase in temperature and the main reason why a well done roast is dry (not because the temperature got so high the water boiled off). At the end of the day, it comes down to temperature control and in an attempt to get the roast to be as uniform as possible, I advocate cooking it at a temperature as close to your final temperature as possible (let's say 135F), BUT cooking at lower than 200F takes so long that I chose 200F as a happy medium between perfect roast and reasonable length of time. That's why 200F was chosen. Higher temperatures would lead to greater and greater non-uniformity of temperature in the roast (outside hotter than inside) which would overcook the exterior (some people like the gradient, so this recipe isn't for them). The higher the temperature, the greater the gradient. No boiling of anything.

It's actually really difficult to boil anything the size of a roast due to the ample surface area and comparatively huge amount of energy that needs to be imparted to bring the interior to boiling point (outside a vacuum). It might be doable in a microwave oven with a smaller roast (too big and the microwaves can't penetrate far enough).

On December 22, 2009 at 03:57 PM, Dilbert said...

cordini -

14 vs 12 pounds is not a size difference to cause concern with 'unequal' roasting time - especially in the low and slow method. as pointed out in the long string of messages in this thread, how fast the heat penetrates / cooks the roast is dependent more on surface area than mass, per se.

using 200'F you can use the "45 mins per pound" as a starting guideline - but as you are doing two separate roasts, it's not 26 lbs x 45 minutes - the oven has the "power" to keep up the set temp - in other words, the oven won't "know" it has two separate roasts - it will cook both 'evenly'

so looking at the extremes:

14 lbs x 45 min/lb = 10.5 hours
12 lbs x 45 min/lb = 9 hours

and frankly I suspect both will be a "long" estimate - I do 10 pounders at 235'F - which takes about 4 hours. 14 lbs at 235'F I'd guesstimate at 5 hours.

roasting at 200'F will extend the time, but I doubt it will double.

the "trick" is to use a thermometer to measure how fast the roast(s) are cooking.

a 130'F internal temp is 'traditional' for rare - 136'F for medium.
write drown the time & temp as you roast - check initially every 45 minutes or so, when internal temps get above 90, check every thirty minutes.

forget the nonsense about opening the oven door - you're dealing with thermal masses thaty will never dsitinguish a 30 second vs 2 minute open door.

you'll quickly see if it's going to get done sooner / later / just right time wise. internal temperature rise slows at it increases (given the same oven temp) - so you can increase or decrease the oven temp to speed up / slow down the roasting. that includes the "Off" position.

on a rack will help with heat penetration from below vs 'flat on a pan" - end effect - cooks faster.

pulling the roast(s) out of the fridge for one-two hours prior to oven also helps cut down on cooking time as they will warm up a bit.

On December 22, 2009 at 04:04 PM, Michael Chu said...

cordini wrote:

Okay, I need help.....As a non-engineer, but having several friends who are, I have a couple of big boneless Ribeye roasts to do for Christmas Day. The 1st weighs in just over 14 lbs and the other is just under 12 lbs. Using the 200 degree cooking temperature method, what kind of time estimate would I be looking at in order to meet a 1 pm CST serving time? Would it be better to set my oven to the convection method or simply go traditional cooking under the roasting option? And finally, do I place these on a wire rack in each pan, or should I just put them on the bottom of the pan? After getting the "Sticker Shock" :shock: for the prices of these mammouth pieces of meat, I do NOT want to screw this up.....Any & ALL help is very much appreciated! Thanks!

I would do them on wire racks spaced apart to allow air flow. You're going to probably need two probe thermometers, but if you only have one then stick it in the smaller of the roasts to begin with. Mostly, at these sizes, it's just the diameter of the roast that dictates cooking time - a slightly longer roast won't change cooking time as surface area of the longer roast increases at roughly the same rate as the mass (this is not true when the roast is actually getting LARGER and not just LONGER).

I would budget 5 hours of roasting time and 1 hour of resting, but you WILL need the probe thermometer. If you don't have one, you have a day or two to go to the Bed Bath & Beyond to get one. Take some notes as it roasts so you can track how fast the interior temperature is rising and don't worry, it starts off a bit slow. Do not be afraid to fiddle with oven temperature controls to get it to slow down or speed up slightly to get you to your target time. Try to stop cooking about an hour (or tad less) before service.

On December 22, 2009 at 07:57 PM, cordini said...

Okay, so I checked my oven manual and I can run the probe on the Convection Roast setting....Convection is supposed to circulate for a more even finish and also provide the browning that I would obtain if I seared the sides. Now, as for the 5 hours @ 200 degrees, that sounds fine, but do I understand that I then let the roasts set under the foil tent for an hour before serving? That seems long to me, but I do understand that there is still cooking occuring.....Just seems like they would get cold if I let them stand that long. I trust what you are telling me is true, just need more insight. Also, I only have one probe that connects directly to the oven, so I can put a meat thermometer in the other roast, if that is what you suggest. My oven will shut off after the internal temp meets what I have set.....My wife thinks I should get to at least to MED. RARE, if not closer to Medium....I don't want to ruin this by overcooking, so after standing, it sounds like I would want to be in that 136 degree range. Thanks for any & all responses!!

On December 22, 2009 at 08:19 PM, Michael Chu said...

cordini wrote:

Okay, so I checked my oven manual and I can run the probe on the Convection Roast setting....Convection is supposed to circulate for a more even finish and also provide the browning that I would obtain if I seared the sides. Now, as for the 5 hours @ 200 degrees, that sounds fine, but do I understand that I then let the roasts set under the foil tent for an hour before serving? That seems long to me, but I do understand that there is still cooking occuring.....

Convection probably would not get the brown crust you are looking for unless your oven runs hot for brief amounts of time as it cycles. 200F just isn't hot enough to brown, so I suggest you brown first. As for the hour of rest - it's not actually "cooking" in that period of time, but the temperature on the outside and the inside is evening out and then the whole thing starts to cool a little. The proteins begin to relax slightly which allows the free juices to be reabsorbed (to a point). 1 hour resting shouldn't be an issue for a 14 and 12 pound solid mass at an average temp of 135F unless your room temperature is really cold. Think of how long it takes an equivalent amount of water (about 6 quarts) to cool. As long as you serve it above body temperature, you'll be fine. You can leave the probe in there to see what the roast temperature is while you let it rest as well.

On December 22, 2009 at 09:23 PM, cordini said...

Thanks Michael !! Yeah, the room shouldn't be ice cold.....Unless we open the window to get some air, but it sounds like we may be in the midst of a Blizzard around that time, so it will probably remain closed! :lol: That actually helps to free up space for my wife to pop the cheesey potatoes in to get them hot in the oven. So, I should probably season the roast on Christmas Eve, pull them out around 4 or 5 am, and then put them in around 7 am to get them done in order to serve @ 1 pm. We have a plan......Now just wish me luck!! I really do appreciate all the help everyone has given me........MERRY CHRISTMAS to all of you!!

On December 22, 2009 at 09:47 PM, neeki (guest) said...

Subject: thermometer

hey michael, where do you stick in the meat thermometer? i know its supposed to go right into the center, but is there a place you like to place it in particular? i feel kinda strange about poking a hole in my roast and am paranoid about juices leaking out.

On December 23, 2009 at 06:18 PM, an anonymous reader said...

Quote:

Micheal Chu wrote: The anonymous poster who is defending the 200F cooking method is on the right track, but scientifically incorrect......
The water/liquid in the roast does not boil - even if we cooked the thing at 350F......
By far, the biggest reason for liquid loss due to evaporation is the "squeezing" out of water stored in the cells out to the exterior of the roast where it evaporates. This is caused by the constriction of proteins as they increase in temperature and the main reason why a well done roast is dry

Dear Mr. Chu,

The poster you reference as being correct misconstrued and misstated the original post.

The statement was that temperatures higher than 212 degrees would boil the water "OUT of the meat", NEVER was it stated water would boil within the meat.
Water boiling (evaporating) off the surface creates a vapor pressure that draws even more water to the surface to evaporate. You refer to it as "squeezing" out, out being the key word, as in "out" of the meat.

My point was simple -- keep the roasting temperature below the boiling point AND the prime rib will experience much less water loss.
Call it "squeezing" out, capillary action, vapor pressure or whatever other scientific or unscientific term, the fact is the higher the heat the greater the water loss from within the meat.

If the professional barbeque folks would cook a slab of ribs at 235 degrees as the correct poster you are referring to roasts his prime rib, after 12 hours that slab of ribs would come out not unlike a chunk of stringy charcoal.
Barbeque professionals cook below the boiling point of water for a very obvious reason.

I regret ever responding to the poster in question, unfortunately I took his bait and have trashed up your forum, for that I am sorry.
I have seen him on other forums and have total contempt for him and his ilk that spew their mental slobber all over the internet.

I read most of the posts on this stream. It was very useful. I had 20 people over yesterday and we served a 16 pound ribeye roast (with bones). It was the entire rack. It worked out beautifully, thanks to this site.

searing
Preheat oven to 500 degrees on convection roast(this took 30 minutes in a Wolf range due to no exposed heating elements)
put to roast in for 7 minutes, then rotate for another 7 minutes (due to the convection fans blowing hot air from the back of the oven.

roasting
I was concerned about the oven not "cooling off" fast enough from 500 degrees to 190degrees. So, I opened the oven door, took to roast out, put in the temperature probe (very handy for roasting meats), waited 5 minutes (to let to oven cool off), then put to roast back in.

I am not sure what the temperature was in the oven when I returned the roast (I do not have an oven thermometer and did not bother messing with the knob to measure the temperature). My guess is that it came down to 350 degrees or so.

I set the oven to 190 degrees, set the probe at 125 degrees internal temperature, then let it roast. Based on the posts, I thought it would take 6 hours. But after 4 hours, the temp reached 121 degrees and I pulled it out and covered it with foil. The temp raised to 132 degrees, then cooled to 110 degrees (based on instraread thermometer readings)

Thanks Larry for sharing some very important information for those that sear before roasting.
Good ovens retain heat very well.
A 500° oven may take an hour or more to fall back to the 190° roasting temperature.
Opening the door to cool the oven was a very good idea.

I was great to hear that this thread helped you put on a great feed.
Learning is what it is all about and you in turn contributed important information.

.

On December 24, 2009 at 07:37 AM, OleDoc (guest) said...

Fully enjoyed reading Mr Chu's recipe article and all the comments over the years! I have been using the low temperature roasting for a couple of years with much success. After finding this site/topic, I now have to have prime rib for New Years!!! I made one last year for Christmas using the 200 F roasting technique - it was absolutely great! Now I want to add the dry aging for 5 days!

Within a few of the comments on this topic, several references were made to "browning" and the "Maillard reaction". As a carbohydrate chemist (retired), that is a pet peeve! LOL! The "Maillard reaction" refers specifically to reactions with sugars and amino acids/proteins. The browning reactions in meat are NOT "Maillard reactions" (unless you dredge it in flour). This misconception is so pervasive in the food sciences that it is unlikely it will ever get corrected - besides, it sounds so erudite.

Meat contains very little sugar (surprise!) - less than 0.1% What meat does have is a lot of myoglobin - it makes red meat red. White meat contains less myoglobin than dark meat; beef contains more myoglobin than pork and, pork more than chicken. You may have noticed that red meat (or dark meat) browns much more readily than white meat; beef more than pork and pork more than chicken breast.

The browning reactions for meat are from the breakdown of the myoglobin and its tetrapyrrole (porphorin) rings. The breakdown of the tetrapyrroles leads to reactions SIMILAR to those of the Maillard reaction, but very different.

Just sayin'! Engineers are not the only ones who value accuracy!

On December 24, 2009 at 10:44 AM, mf15 said...

OleDoc: Glad to see there are more chemists on here.
I really enjoy the 1/2 inch of herbed well done one the outside.
Old Mike
Retired Lubricant Chemist

On December 24, 2009 at 01:56 PM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: thermometer

neeki wrote:

hey michael, where do you stick in the meat thermometer? i know its supposed to go right into the center, but is there a place you like to place it in particular? i feel kinda strange about poking a hole in my roast and am paranoid about juices leaking out.

Just stick it in the middle. Look to see how long your probe is and check the diameter of our roast. Take note of where on the probe you should stop when shoving it in (it should go in about the same distance as the radius). Now find the mid point of the length of the roast and push that probe in. If you think of the roast as a cylinder, it should go in at the middle of the long side (not the caps). Don't worry about juices leaking out - it's just one small hole, there are plenty of juices in the roast.

On December 24, 2009 at 03:39 PM, BeefAlaska (guest) said...

Subject: Looking forward to the "beefproject"

:) Well after looking at countless ways to roast a beast for tomorrows Christmas dinner, I am happy to finally settle on the low & slow style. Have always done it the really high temp burst then lower for the duration. The low and slow does logically make sense to me, especially fpor having a nice slice with consistent color throughout... I am on the way to go and secure a quality temp gauge doodad as recommended. Thanks for all of the great information. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

On December 24, 2009 at 07:34 PM, lsherring (guest) said...

Subject: Rib Roast

Well, I have cooked and devoured our Prime Rib. Anyone who DOES NOT cook this beautiful piece of meat low and slow is doing the meat and your guests a HUGE injustice!!!! I have cooked mine the same for years. Coat the meat in Olive Oil and then make a crust with your favorite herbs/spices. I'm simple, I use smoke flavored pepper first all over, then I rub the minced garlic all over it and then I encase it in Kosher salt. Truly locks in the juice and cooks to perfection every-time. You can leave the crust on for some and take it off for others, but the low and slow is the best. When I put the roast in the pan I also pour water into the pan to cover the entire pan. Most of it evaporates, but any good juice that comes out, does not burn. I also do sear it in the oven at 500 degrees for 15 minutes. I then turn down to 200 and let the oven work its magic. Now the BBQ is even better, but much more work as it is tough to regulate the heat (I use charcoal, the only way to BBQ). However indirect with some wood chips...YUMM!!!! Then take those juices from the meat in the pan and aafter you have carved and make a tasty gravy....:) Soooooooo good!

On December 24, 2009 at 09:21 PM, claudzila (guest) said...

Subject: 6.5 lb boneless prime rib

Hi,

I am getting confused about how long to cook my PR. I want to do the 450 for 15 minutes, then how long (approx) before I start checking for the internal temp? I would like mine to be med rare?

Thanks so much

On December 25, 2009 at 12:38 AM, lsherring (guest) said...

Subject: Reply to temp question

Cook the Prime Rib at 450-500 for 15 minutes.....immediately turn it down to 200. If you go this route you will need to give yourself 5-8 hours depending on your roast size. Roughly 1 hr per pound bone in. Do not let the internal temp. go past 140. Let it rest 10 minutes and carve away and enjoy...... :)

On December 25, 2009 at 01:49 AM, Petro Eng (guest) said...

Subject: Smoking Rib Roast

I have used this slow cook method several times with my pellet grill which can keep the temp ~ 190 degree F. It is variable and has a temp readout so is very easy to regulate. This always results in a GREAT rib roast, ( we usually buy a whole roast cyrogenically packed from COSTCO). We have also bought the peeled tenderloin and smoked it slowly after searing and rolling in spices. The mesquite flavor from the smoker has the guests going out and buying a smoker just like mine!!

On December 25, 2009 at 09:39 AM, Guest (guest) said...

Subject: When is 200 Degrees, not 200 Degrees?

OK, I admit it, I am an engineer with a new toy--a Weber gas BBQ with an infrared burner and an EZ-Que rotisserie basket to avoid piercing the roast. Yesterday, after spending $200 on 12 pounds of free-range PRIME, prime rib roast at Whole Paycheck, I decided to use the IR burner to establish a 200 degree temperature inside the lid. It worked great--lowest setting on the gas input was perfect.

I put in the room-temperature roast in the basket over 1" of water and after an hour, noticed the outside of roast had developed a nice char, almost like the temperature inside was 450, instead of 200. No problem with the hood thermometer, it's accurate. About that time, I realized that the surface temperature of the meat was likely MUCH hotter than 200 F due to radiant heat transfer, instead of convection.

Turning off the IR burner and turning on one conventional bottom at the bottom right, I reestablished 200 degrees inside. Fortunately, my brief experiment with the IR burner did not result in a $200 disaster. Lesson learned: don't try to get fancy, stick with what has been used in the past. The roast was perfect after removing it with a Thermapen-checked internal temperature of 130 F--uniformly pink throughout. Yum!

On December 26, 2009 at 09:13 AM, Michelle (guest) said...

Subject: plain and simple, great results

I followed Chu's given instructions, minus the searing, adding a simple rub of kosher salt and cracked black pepper. My small rib roast (4 pounds) cooked to 140 F in exactly 3 hours, and after "collecting itself" for about 35 minutes, while the Yorkshire Pudding cooked, was beautifully uniform, tender, and flavorful. I let the roast come to room temperature before roasting, which meant that the cooking process got started right away.

Our beef comes from a small herd that is grass fed; all cuts are packaged in 6 mm shrink-wrapped plastic, so airtight. Because of the leaner animal, we expected the rib roast to be less tender, but this method was as easy and delicious as a conventional rib roast ordered from a reputable chef. (My only complaint was the lack of drippings/rendered fat from our roast, which seemed to be a result of its happy mountain lifestyle.)

Thanks, Michael, for the recipe!

On December 27, 2009 at 06:47 AM, OleDoc (guest) said...

Subject: Maillard Browning

mf15 wrote:

OleDoc: Glad to see there are more chemists on here.

Old Mike
Retired Lubricant Chemist

Ibidum! Just for the record, I was the author of the paragraph in the Wikipedia entry for the Maillard Reaction that contests the role of the sugars in the browning of meats. I did a Google search and I see that a lot of people have picked up on it! That's great!

I found one discussion that raised the question about glycogen content in the meat muscle. I can answer that: When the beast is slaughtered, blood is drained, oxygenation of the muscle tissue ceases, and all of the glycogen is converted to glucose for anaerobic metabolism. The glucose stores from the glycogen breakdown are rapidly metabolized to lactic acid.

Furthermore, white meat (from muscles that are not used extensively - chickens don't fly very much and pigs are lazy!) contains less myoglobin and MORE glycogen! That's because white muscle relies on anaerobic metabolism (conversion of glucose to lactic acid). Red meat contains MORE myoglobin and LESS glycogen because it relies more on aerobic metabolism to produce energy.

So, again you see a correlation. White meat should contain more residual sugar than dark meat - but it browns less! Dark meat contains more myoglobin and less sugar, but it browns MORE!

I don't know how the myth about the Maillard Reaction got incorporated into meat browning, but it is obviously wrong.

On December 27, 2009 at 04:51 PM, JimW (guest) said...

Subject: Carry over heat

I need an engineer to explain exactly how carry over occurs please.

I just cooked a 14.75 lb rib roast at 180F for 6 hours to an internal temp of 120F. I expected very little carry over increase from what I read above here and from other sources. What I got was a 10 degree increase to 130F. The meat was uniformly medium rare inside, perfect, but it seems to me that carry over is much more dependent on the mass of the roast than any gradient of the internal temperature since smaller roasts cooked at high temperatures don't gain 10 degrees outside of the oven, at least in my experience.

On December 27, 2009 at 05:54 PM, Dilbert said...

JimW -

your intuition is spot on - carry over is generated by the BTU stored in "the temperature gradient" - the bigger the diameter, the more mass involved in becoming a gradient, the more absolute BTU 'stored' for carryover.

a larger diameter roast has more mass involved in the outside to inside gradient to store more absolute heat energy - that 'stored' heat energy dissipates to the outside and to the inside. but the outside surface area does not increase linearly to the inside mass as diameter increases.

a larger roast will conduct proportionally more heat from the higher temp mass to the cooler interior than a smaller roast - the balance being lost 'to the outside'

anyway I can confirm your observation that smaller roasts exhibit less carry over cooking than larger ones.

On December 27, 2009 at 06:53 PM, Zoo Broker (guest) said...

Subject: 18 lbs & 6 hours

Just wanted to post my take on this. 17.9lb 7-bone niman ranch standing rib roast ... I used a crust from Tyler Florence... preheated the oven to the max (500F, although my separate oven thermometer read about 465F, wouldn't budge higher). I let the meat come to about 42F, blasted it for 7 minutes, then set the oven to 200F and opened the door until the temperature on the oven thermometer came down to about 275. after I closed the door the temp dropped pretty quickly to 200. I used a probe thermometer and recorded the temp every 15 minutes. After 2 hours, my pretty little excel graph showed me I was going to be almost an hour early, so I dropped the temp to 190. When I was at 118 and now a little behind on the clock, I put it back to 205. For whatever reason, the roast ended up staying at 126 for about 15 minutes before I ticked up to 128. when I took it out, a guest who is a sous chef of a semi-famous restaurant in San Francisco insisted that I let it rest for 30 minutes, which was just enough time to get the oven hot enough for the Yorkshire Pudding as well as heat the prev made gratin. I didn't keep the thermom in the meat as it rested so I'm not sure what the final temp was.

Okay, time for my update......I did the two Ribeye roasts for Christmas Day with a slight variation. My bro-in-law is in the wholesale food industry and when I told him about this method, he gave me "HIS" method of doing Prime Rib, so I fused the two together.....I set the oven probe temp to 138 degrees and set the convection roast feature of my oven to 225 degrees....25 less than what he told me to set it at, but 25 higher than Mr. Chu's method. It all worked out & he couldn't stop "OOO-AAHing" about how well it turned out. I rubbed coarse Sea Salt & course Black pepper into both roasts for seasoning and let them stand @ room temp. for a couple of hours.....Put the roasts in @ 9 am and they were done @ 12:45 pm. They both had a nice brown crust on them w/o searing, and I had a pot of boiling Au 'ju (sp?) on the stove top to finish some of the roast to a "more done" cooking for the kids & others who were not into Med. Rare.....Perfect! The leftovers made great sandwiches later that day.....Thanks for all your help here!

On April 02, 2010 at 02:22 PM, Rex (guest) said...

Subject: RIb Roast

Awesome!
I appreciate a right to the point, quick access and totally understandable solution. This turned out great and I appreciate the post !

Thank you Mr. Chu

Rex :)

On April 04, 2010 at 11:43 AM, uzart (guest) said...

Subject: Stones

...Cook a roast weighting 1 stone for 45 mins/lbs at 122C .......

No problem! clear as can be!

On April 05, 2010 at 03:01 PM, becksdrinker (guest) said...

Subject: slow roasting

Followed this recipe for an 8.5 lb rib roast this weekend. I browned it on the BBQ grill to save splattering up the stove before company arrived. It took 3.5 hours to reach 130 degrees. We found that this was at the rare end of medium rare. We placed the slices back in the oven for 10 minutes, watching them the whole while. They did not brown up or dry out but they turned the perfect pink that we were looking for. The roast had nice marbling to begin with and this method kept it moist and very tender. The best part was there was only a thin coat of browned roast, maybe 1/8 inch and the rest was evenly cooked to the desired degree of doneness....Not just done in the center.

On May 26, 2010 at 12:11 AM, Terri Moran (guest) said...

Subject: Prime Rib

Hi, I've eaten a lot of good prime rib in my days. I have eaten it all over the country and about half of the world. Believe me, in the corporate world, you get to eat a lot of Prime Rib. I just thought that I would pass onto your readers, that the Best Prime Rib that I have ever eaten, in my entire life was at a place in the Carolinas, near Asheville, The name of the place was "Kutchie's Key West Cafe'," That prime rib would melt in your mouth. It was also the most flavorful prime rib that I have ever tasted. I could cut it with my fork. And that's no bull.
The very nice "Babe" that was serving our table, told us that the owner "Kutchie Pelaez" only uses "certified black angus western prime beef", not just for his prime rib, but for his steaks. That he even grinds it for his world famous cheese burgers, called the "goody goody, the cheese burger in paradise." I might try one of those the next time we are in Carolina but I don't think-so. That prime rib would be very hard to beet. That young lady told us that Mr. Pelaez was a beef expert and that he age all his beef on premises n his own storage facilities. I told her I was very impressed and the proof was in the pudding and that was the finest prime rib that I have ever eaten. A great baked potato, a fresh garden salad. Top all that off with "The Best Key Lime Pie in the World" and you've just eaten better that a 10-star dinner. Oh and the Island Drinks that this place servers are second to none, they will knock you on your ass if you are not careful, no watered down drinks at Kutchie's Place. Just the Best Damn Food and Drinks you can get anywhere in the world.

.....Terri Moran,....Los Vegas

On July 05, 2010 at 02:28 AM, tghodge (guest) said...

Subject: 14 lb Rib Roast

I've wanted to cook a large roast for a long time. I originally thought that the 45 minute/lb would work...but after much reading, I figured out that the time would be anywhere between 5 and 6 hours.

I don't like the high heat/slow cook method, so I went with a straight up 210 degree (F) oven for the hole time.

I let the roast stand overnight in it's cryo-pack and when I put it in the oven, it was at an internal temp of 69 degree F. I started the roast at 12:30 pm at 210 degree F. The roast was at 131 degrees at 4:45 pm. I turned the oven down to 170 degrees to slow it down, and ended up turning it off around 5:30 when the internal temp was around 135. It went up to 136 in the oven that was turned off over the next 20-30 minutes.

I pulled it out and started carving a around 6:00 pm....to VERY awesom results. The whole rost was perfectly medium rare. The very center was medium rare to rare....

It was the first time I had cooked a whole rib roast...and I would do it the same in a heart beat.

I think the biggest difference in cook time is made by how much time it is allowed to come to room temp. If you take it out of the fridge at 45 degrees, it will take closer to 6 hours. If you let is sit overnight as I did - I think the target time is much closer to five hours.

BTW - this is the BEST page for information and discussion about baking, broiling, smoking, and just plain cooking a rib roast (prime rib) that I hav EVER come across.

Thank YOU!

Travis.

On October 10, 2010 at 09:31 AM, Lesley (guest) said...

Subject: Interesting Technique

I'm not an engineer but I'm always game to try new and interesting methods.

My roast is dry ageing as I type this, at the end of day 2. I'm giving it another 24 hours. The only variation is that I wrapped it loosely in cheesecloth as per the instructions on another site. It still smells good - the wrap gets changed daily. I'm going to sear it on the BBQ to save the splatter on my stove-top and then roast it as per your instructions.

To all those people who complained about the units used, quit being so silly. Use a calculator if you can't convert the numbers in your head.

On November 21, 2010 at 02:43 PM, omni1 (guest) said...

Subject: slow roast

Every Christmas dinner for the family (in Laws) for years - warm cracked peppercorns in pan, when fragrent mix in some kosher salt and rub roast and let stand to bring to room temperature. When ready put in 210 degree oven w/probe set to alert at 113 degrees. When alarm goes off, I remove roast and cover w/ foil. I bring oven up to 450 degrees and when ready I reset probe alarm to 122 and put roast back in then promptly remove when alarm goes off. It puts that wonderful carmalized crust on roast but accomplishes the goal of medium rare all the way thru center to edge as I let it rest and in about 18-21 minutes it always comes up to 130 and then I slice and serve!! AWESOME!

I plan on using a 200F oven to cook a 10lb PRR to the desired 115F (we all like it rare) then turning up the oven to 500F (letting the meat rest) and then putting it back in the oven to create the crust.

One question though-
When I take the meat out the first time once it reaches 115F, many say to wrap it in foil, let it rest for 30 minutes, then return it to the 500F oven for about 10 minutes. Do I return it to the oven with the foil on or off?
Seems like it wouldn't crust well with the foil left on, but I never see instructions that say to remove the foil.

On November 24, 2010 at 12:38 PM, Dilbert said...

cover / foil _off_

your instinct is absolutely correct - creating a crust under foil is not going to happen....

On November 24, 2010 at 07:46 PM, sammysalsa (guest) said...

Subject: leftover prime

After the meal has taken place, I like to cut the leftover prime rib into steaks and vacuum pack them in individual servings and put in freezer.
When the need for a good meal hits you, you take one of them out and let it thaw, heat up a package of ajus mix and put the steak inside the ajus to heat it up. It comes out tender and moist just like when you made it and didn't take much time.

On November 25, 2010 at 09:48 PM, inOne (guest) said...

Subject: Excellent recipe!

I tried cooking two 5lbs slabs at 200F but with convection. It was a tad more well-done than I like after 4 hours. I tested after 4 hours since I estimated it will arrive at 130F in about 5 hours. My timing was off because of the convection factor. Next time I'll probe after 3 hours.

It's a good idea to have the butcher debone and tie back the bones. In that slit I insert pepper corns and garlic slices. This adds a really nice flavor to the meat. Thank you.

On December 09, 2010 at 08:12 PM, Tod C (guest) said...

Subject: Prime Rib temp Plot

Here is data on internal temp of an eight pound rib roast (four bone, loin end). The first column is minutes and the second is the internal temp. I removed it at 128 deg F and provided a perfect Medium Rare roast. I pulled it out for 20 minutes as indicated below to use the oven for something else. Total time in the oven was 250 minutes. Tod C

Well it is time to fire up the oven,I have an electronic probe this year we will see how it works,as opposed to my dial thermometer which was calibrated every 5 F. I still like the >3/8" browned outside, so will cook at max oven temp for 20 or so minutes then take roast out while the oven door is open and cooling down to around 200.
Old Mike
Old Chemist

On December 17, 2010 at 10:10 PM, an anonymous reader said...

Michael,

I love you.

Thank you for your site. It is the most useful site on the Internet, hands down.

On December 21, 2010 at 03:33 AM, Mining Engineer (guest) said...

Subject: No rub - No sear - A high altitude data point

1. I read on another website a recommendation to not use salt, pepper or anything else on the outer surface, so I tried it. The meat tasted fine. I added a little salt to taste as I ate it.

2. I also decided to see what happens with no searing in pan or oven. I thought it tasted fine. Don't be afraid to try it with no rub or sear. I have had "crusty" prime rib that was good, but the unadulterated prime rib flavor and texture is a nice change.

3. I took my 9 lb. roast out of the fridge 45 minutes before it went in the oven. That amount of time was not anywhere near enough to let it warm up, but it didn't matter. Temp was 38 F when it went in.

4. Cooking time here at approximately 5300' above sea level was 5 hours 35 minutes to 130 F. Out to rest for 30 minutes, it picked up 5 degrees of carry-over to end at 135 F. Medium rare edge to edge. I will probably give it maybe 2 more degrees next time, just a little firmer and a lighter pink would be nice.

5. I had to set my oven at 210 to get the temperature to average 200, and it was more stable when I set it to 215 which averaged 205. A good oven thermometer in addition to the probe thermometer is essential. If I had believed my 200-degree oven setting, I would have actually been cooking it at 190. Then I read some articles about how inaccurate oven thermostats are, especially at lower temperatures. Will probably try a little higher temp, maybe a measured average of 235.

Overall, the slow, low temp roast is the way to go, thanks Michael. My only disappointment was that the meat wasn't as warm on the plate and in my mouth as I am accustomed to at a good restaurant. Must be those heat lamps and such. Does anyone have a suggestion as to how to have the serving temp higher without turning it into medium or well done shoe leather?

On December 21, 2010 at 05:44 PM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: No rub - No sear - A high altitude data point

Mining Engineer wrote:

My only disappointment was that the meat wasn't as warm on the plate and in my mouth as I am accustomed to at a good restaurant. Must be those heat lamps and such. Does anyone have a suggestion as to how to have the serving temp higher without turning it into medium or well done shoe leather?

Warm your plates in the oven prior to service. That will keep the prime rib warmer longer as you eat it. Make sure the plate is hot but not over 130F-140F or else it could continue to cook the meat. 160F might even be okay, but really hot plates (some restaurants serve on > 300F!) will just cook your meat at the table and that's not what we want when you've spent so much time and effort preparing the roast.

On December 21, 2010 at 08:33 PM, Jack Kirscher (guest) said...

Subject: Boneless Rib Eye Roast

I am planning on having rib-eye roast for Xmas dinner. I bought two boneless roasts; one is 8 lbs. while the second is 7 lbs. This year, I am planning to use the low temp (200 degrees) method in a convection oven. This causes me to have to ask several questions. Each roast is about 10 inches long; eight inches wide; and probably averages about 3.5 inches thick. Should each be tied to form a log or left as is? Since both will be roasted at the same time in the same oven, and not touching each other, do you treat them as though they were one roast for calculating length of time to roast. Unless I hear otherwise, I will roast about 4.5 hrs at 200 degrees. In summary: should I tie or not? Is 4.5 hours about correct for 130 degrees internal before resting?

Thanks for any response.

On December 22, 2010 at 08:32 AM, Dilbert said...

you can probably get away without tying them - but they will be easier to handle and likely 'prettier' if you do. if there is a fair amount of fat between the muscle groups tying would keep them from falling apart.

time sounds about right - check after 2 hrs then every 30 min or so - adjust temp as needed.

On December 22, 2010 at 01:44 PM, Kirscher (guest) said...

Thanks Dilbert. I shall take your recommendations.

On December 22, 2010 at 02:27 PM, FoodScienceGuy (guest) said...

Subject: enzymes

One point that hasn't been mentioned yet is the effect of low temperature cooking on enzymatic activity. Aging meat, either wet or dry, allows enzymes to act at low temperatures, further tenderizing the meat. However, enzmes have different optimum temperature ranges. By bringing up the internal meat temperature slowly it allows for all the enzmes to work at their optimum temperature range. Once the internal temperature of the meat reaches 40 C (104 F), most of the enzymes will denature. So the higher temperatures you cook the meat, the less time the enzymes will be working in their optimum range.

I use both dry-aging and low temperature cooking to achieve maximum tenderness and flavor. I also suggest dry-aging for at least a week (keeping in mind the meat you get from the grocery store has already been wet aged for about a week). And yes, I dry-age in my refrigerator although it is an extra one with no other food items in it (except of course for microbrews and canned Cougar Gold cheese).

On December 22, 2010 at 03:53 PM, mf15 said...

Subject: Oven Temp Control

I decided to check my oven temp this year, wow if I set it to 200 F then it runs up over 250,then won't go on until well below 200 F. Temp control is not good and it has electronic control. So I suggest everyone get an oven thermometer so you can see what is actually going on. Then of course you should check the oven thermometer to see if it is anywhere near accurate.

Old Mike

On December 22, 2010 at 03:56 PM, mf15 said...

Jack: I did two roasts last year, my comment is that you have to treat them as two different roasts.they will achieve temperature at different rates.
Old Mike

On December 22, 2010 at 08:32 PM, deanna (guest) said...

Subject: pre-cooked prime rib

I purchased a pre-cooked prime rib back in July that I'm planning on making for XMas dinner. It came vacume sealed frozen in a plastic bag. The supplier said to take it out of the bag, put it in a pan covered with foil at 350 and start with 10-15 minutes. However, I'm afraid 350 will cook it further so I think I'm going to try the pouch method listed here. I plan to bring it to room temperature then submerge in hot water and leave it in the pouch it's already in. I have two questions. When I take it out of the water bath, do I need to also let it rest for a while? Secondly, for what we don't eat, can I reheat slices with the same method or with the lettuce method or can I not reheat it again? Any advice would be welcome.

On December 23, 2010 at 11:55 AM, Dilbert said...

deanna -

cooking in the pouch in a warm-to-hot water bath is aka "sous vide"

more detail on the method here:
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article/283/An-Introduction-to-Sous-Vide-Cooking

it's not quite clear from your post if the whole roast is frozen or if it has been sliced and slices individually pouched - sounds like the whole roast is in one bag. hopefully it's well on it's way to thawed at this point in time.

personally I'd be tempted to thaw & then allow the whole roast to come to room temp - then in the oven at 250'F to re-heat - check the internal temp with thermometer after 30 minutes or so.

reheating it - by any method - such that the internal temp goes over the 130'F (rare - 135F medium rare) will indeed "cook" it further. the sous vide method uses water temp as essentially the "final desired temp" and is less likely to overcook the roast but see the thread because maintaining the water temp without some gadgets / special gear is tricky. be aware - sous vide is _not_ a fast cooking method - it will take some time to slowly reheat the entire roast. might want to consider slicing it first then seal in a bag.

left overs I slice and re-heat in a fry/saute pan with liberal juice - yes they do go a bit browner than rare....

"the lettuce method" hmmm, looks like the spell checker got the best of that one - no sure I follow the lettuce (g)

On December 23, 2010 at 01:04 PM, DeAnna (guest) said...

Subject: pre-cooked prime rib

Yes the whole roast has been pre-cooked and frozen and yes it's de-thawing now. Some people suggested for reheating slices to place romaine lettuce over the slices and reheat in the oven. I'm less concerned with the time it takes as long as I don't overcook the thing. The supplier said he left it in the bag and put the whole thing in the microwave one time for 7 minutes but I'm not sure I want to try that. Possibly if I just bring it to room temperature and slice it and pour hot jus over it it would work just as well. Thanks

On December 23, 2010 at 01:38 PM, Dilbert said...

I would not put a dang decent slice of prime rib in a microwave for nuttin' - ever.

lettuce as a 'cover' - interesting, not run across that 'technique'

if you can get the slices completely thawed and thence to 'room temp' - a liberal drowning of hot a'jus will probably get you real close.

the bottom line is pretty simple - doing the roast from scratch produces a chunk of meat hotter on the outside and cooler to the center. difficult to replicate that effect precisely in a reheat situation without over cooking some/all portion of the roast - but if the meat was a good chunk to start with and properly roasting to second with, it's a good bet you'll get a sumptuous cut out of it.

On December 23, 2010 at 06:46 PM, Carol (guest) said...

Subject: yorkshire pudding vs smokey house

Is there a way to make yorkshire pudding without filling the house with smoke? I really like it, but we're a bunch of non smokers. Sorry, bad joke. :(

On December 23, 2010 at 08:41 PM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: yorkshire pudding vs smokey house

Carol wrote:

Is there a way to make yorkshire pudding without filling the house with smoke? I really like it, but we're a bunch of non smokers. Sorry, bad joke. :(

When I make mine in the oven, there's little to no smoke.

On December 24, 2010 at 04:49 AM, Sceptical (guest) said...

Subject: "Prime" in the Prime Rib

I didn't get past the first sentence, which is completely wrong. The word "prime" in prime rib does not and never has referred to the USDA prime grade meat. As anyone who knows anything about cuts of meat should know, prime rib is so named because it is cut from the primal section of the carcass.

On December 24, 2010 at 07:27 AM, Lulu from Wisconsin (guest) said...

Subject: Prime Rib Roast in a roaster oven

I have always cooked my roast in the oven but never in a roaster oven before. I was told that you can do it. So I have looked on the Internet and found nothing. I want to start the roast in the morning and eat it by 5p.m. today and I would like to get some good advice on how this could be done. This makes me very nervous about doing it this way but it would be nice to use my regular oven for other things that need to be cooked at the same time. Hopefully you have some good advise on how to prepare this beatiful roast so I don't ruin a good roast.

Thank you

Lulu from Wisconsin

On December 24, 2010 at 08:22 AM, Xmas eve chef (guest) said...

Subject: 5 lbs and a 7 lbs

Help! I have read through all the posts. I couldn't find anyone with two different sized roasts. So I have been given a 5 lbs and a 7.5 lbs prime rib roast to prepare. Last year a 10 lbs roast came out perfect using this web site.

BUT, how do I figure two dissimilar sized roasts. I am thinking put both in at the same time, after approximately 3.5 hours (pending internal temp), pull the smaller one and let it sit till the larger finishes obtaining the temp (maybe another 1 hour) then raise the oven to 500 and blast both for 10 minutes.

I have two temperature probes so I can watch each one.

Thoughts?

Thanks... a juggling Christmas Eve chef.[/b]

On December 24, 2010 at 10:11 AM, rkbowen said...

Subject: @ Sceptical

Why post the negativity? It is quite obvious that the vast majority of folks who visit the site either get answers to questions they have, or provide answers - based on their knowledge and/or experience.

Lighten up... and Merry Christmas!

On December 24, 2010 at 01:44 PM, Dilbert said...

>>I have been given a 5 lbs and a 7.5 lbs prime rib roast

with that much difference they will finish at different times.

actually, could work in your favor depending on circumstances - if people will be eating over some period of time, you could start the little one half hour after the first - it would be finished / hot / warm 'later' as well

On December 24, 2010 at 11:46 PM, GuestL (guest) said...

Subject: Partially Cook Roast?

Great site! I'm making a standing rib roast and bringing it to a family members' home; however, they live about an hour away. Can I partially cook the roast and finish it later at their home? Thank you!

On December 25, 2010 at 03:47 AM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: Partially Cook Roast?

GuestL wrote:

Great site! I'm making a standing rib roast and bringing it to a family members' home; however, they live about an hour away. Can I partially cook the roast and finish it later at their home? Thank you!

Best to cook it to your desired doneness and then warm it at their home. It will be sort of the same as partially cooking it, but without having to worry about hitting a precise temperature at the other person's home. See, if you cook it at home to 135F, then travel an hour and the temp drops to 100 or 110F, you can reheat in their oven set to the lowest possible temp (usually 170F) for 30-45 min and the roast should be still less than 135F, but plenty warm enough to eat. If you partially cook the roast at home to 110F intending to finish cooking later, by the time you reach the other house it might have cooled to 80-90F, then you have to cook it so that the interior hits 135F which will take longer and might not be convenient.

Something else I should probably mention is that if you do cook the roast to 135F, that is a sufficiently high temperature to kill the most common food borne pathogens so long as the temperature is held there for 40 min or longer. (This isn't usually a problem since a rib roast is quite large and when we cook it in the method outlined above, once the internal temperature reaches 135F, it will stay there for 45 min to an hour before dropping a noticeable amount.) Once below 130F, bacteria can grow again but most of the roast will be bacteria free (since it was held at 135F for over 40 min.), so you should be okay to hold the roast at sub 130F temperatures as you drive to your destination for at most four hours. Try to get the roast back up to 130F or higher within four hours or consume it to avoid pathogen risk for the immune compromised.

On December 25, 2010 at 12:26 PM, wilsodo (guest) said...

Subject: What if we have a guest who want their meat medium-well?

I grew up on rare roast beef, but we have kids and a guest who like theirs medium-well done. Sacrebleu!
My roast is 7.7 lbs. 3 rib, about 6 1/2" long
I would hate to do it, but should I carve a third off, making a 5 lb roast and a 2lb steak and roast them at the same time?
I'm wary of using a higher heat method. The ends don't come out all that much more well done.
I'm inclined to go for medium and suffer the consequences but leftovers need to be rare.
What to do?

On December 25, 2010 at 01:03 PM, Dilbert said...

I have this problem all the time - family / guest who want "well done" -

generally I've had better luck pulling the roast at the "optimum" rare/med rare stage, cut off a chunk and put it back in the oven at higher temp for a few minutes.

your mileage may vary . . .

On December 25, 2010 at 02:37 PM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: What if we have a guest who want their meat medium-well?

wilsodo wrote:

I grew up on rare roast beef, but we have kids and a guest who like theirs medium-well done. Sacrebleu!

I cook my roast medium-rare and then when serving, slice the serving that needs a little more cooking and place it on a heated pan briefly (while slicing the other servings) until it reaches the desired doneness. It also works well with a little heated jus in the pan to keep the "look" (not accidentally searing the cut surface).

On December 25, 2010 at 09:27 PM, caesarv (guest) said...

Subject: my results today

Here was my experience...much of it driven by the need to get some sleep:

Prepared full 18 lb rib roast the night before, but had to cut off 3 lbs (one rib) in order to fit it into the roasting pan. Got up at 3am to remove it from the fridge so it could get to room temperature by 6am. Got up at 5:30am to turn on oven at 450F. Got up again at 6am to put it in the oven and immediately lowered temp to 200F. Slept till 9am.

As measured by two thermometers, the oven maintained about 225 deg the entire time. I did not use the convection setting. At 10:20 the internal thermometer measured 115-120F depending upon where it was probed. I removed it. The results were wonderful.

My only comment was that I thought it would take much longer. I was planning on it being done around noon or 1pm. So I guess I could have gotten more sleep if I had known the cooking time was going to be much less than some had speculated. Next time I will plan on only 4.5 hours of cooking time.

Great site...thanks....and yes, I am an engineer.

On December 27, 2010 at 12:42 AM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: my results today

caesarv wrote:

My only comment was that I thought it would take much longer. I was planning on it being done around noon or 1pm. So I guess I could have gotten more sleep if I had known the cooking time was going to be much less than some had speculated. Next time I will plan on only 4.5 hours of cooking time.

I've been meaning to publish a new prime rib article with a full explanation of cooking times. The old, traditional method of estimating time by multiplying some factor against weight just doesn't work with a rib roast. In fact, for large roasts, the cooking time is almost of the same regardless of weight (10-16 pounds all take about the same amount of time in the same oven). This is because the surface area of the roast increases almost proportionally to the weight. When cooking a turkey, when the weight doubles, the surface area does not, so cooking time must be extended and the easiest way to represent that is by taking the weight and multiplying it by some amount of time. If you think about it though, there's really no shape of roast or type of meat where such a linear relationship could possibly ever work at accurately predicting cooking time.

On December 28, 2010 at 06:45 PM, KurtB said...

Subject: Cooking temp

This is my first post here.
Excellent discussion

I was searching for a roasting calculator and everyone I found sucked. (You can't select both weight and temp)

I read this a few years back in Cooks Illustrated and found it online today:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://www.cooksillustrated.com/images/document/howto/SO96_HTbeef.pdf

It goes into scientific detail as to why the meat should be cooked at 250F and then finished at 500F. Well worth the reading. I really like their magazine because they not only do a lot of testing, but they tell you the scientific reasoning behind their discoveries.

I do most of my roasting on my smoker but I am roasting chuck roast for 150 persons on New Years Eve. (done right chuck roast is incredible) The cooking times that people posted here are a big help. THANK YOU ALL!!

Years ago working at a steak restaurant, for people wanting their meat overdone (a.k.a. more than medium), we would dip the pieces in hot au jus. The meat did not cook much more but appeared to. If they complain, ask them if they would like ketchup also... :P

Bon apetit!

almost forgot... at the restaurant Sundays were prep day. I made fajitas with left over prime rib for the crew... tequila, lime, cilantro

On December 29, 2010 at 06:42 PM, tonelow66@charter.net (guest) said...

Subject: PRIME-RIB STANDING RISS ROAST............

Everybody had some excelant input on how to prepare this dish. Seems to be from trial and error. All of the ideas for the seasoning were great. I want to say just a couple of things that I have found. Season the heck out of the outside of the meat. Don't be scared of overseasoning. Rubb your spices on and let the piece of meat set in the fridge. \ Do this the day before at least. The longer the better. I cover my meat. Let the meat set out till it reaches room temperature. Preheat the oven to 500% Put the meat on the rack with a pan underneath to catch the drippings for 10 minutes. Dropp the heat to 200% for about 2 hours. Get a meat thermometer. When it reaches 135% take it out and let set for about 30 minutes. You can't go wrong. While this is setting take the drippings and add a little whistercheshire, beef base, and the same wine that you will be serving with this meal. Let this reduce. This is your aujus. Enjoy.....

On December 31, 2010 at 08:15 PM, Guest (guest) said...

Subject: Prime Rib

I disagree with the people who insist on a high temp followed by a low temp because I want it red all the way to the edge, not 1 inch or even 1/2 inch from the edge......200 degrees all the way results in red all the way. This year i will try quick browning in a pan, but if it results in less red I will not repeat.

My other point is that we are only two people so in years past I have done a 1 lb 13 oz without ribs and this takes only 1 hour to get to 110 degrees (I cooked a few min more to get get to 125). My point is this is less than 45 min per pound. So I think the 45 min per pound for less than 5 lbs should be corrected for very small roasts (and,yes, I know it is better with a big roast but I have no choice and I have had excellent results with two person roasts as long as you follow the 200 degree rule). In a few minutes I will do a 1 rib roast (with bone) that weighs 2 lbs 3 oz. I am estimating about 1 hour and 15 min. Both start at room temp.

On January 01, 2011 at 05:42 PM, KurtB said...

Subject: Chuck Roast

I did chuck roast (roasted for 150 on New Year's eve. 4 roast between 30 and forty pounds a piece. ($2.48/lb) They took approximately 5 hours using the method I mentioned above. Wow... awesome!! Raving reviews and several people thought it was prime rib!!
My staff cut the pieces just under 1/2" thick, however the roast is so large, most guests took only half a piece. (something to note for next time.)

On January 04, 2011 at 05:19 PM, MrsBoots (guest) said...

Subject: Just cooking my 2nd Standing Rib Roast using THIS Recipe!

We tried cooking standing rib roast only a few times before, becasue they always came out med-well on the outside with only a few pieces inside to OUR liking (rare to med-rare).

Found this site last year, standing rib roasts were on sale and tried it -- used someone else's crust idea but THIS is the PERFECT rare to med-rare ALL the way through!! Hooked and Thank you SO much!

This year on sale before Christmas I bought a 6.45 lb one and thawed it out and left to "age" the last few days in fridge. Today let it warm up, on the counter for about 2 hours (then had to wash it because one of our cats decided to "pre-taste" it!!! :shock: ).

Made my own rub (olve oil, garlic chopped pieced, salt & whole peppercorns in blender)... coated and seared it... got my oven to 220 and have just put it in -- We can't WAIT to have our 2nd best meal since I found this website!

Thank you for making it EASY to make the purrrrfect standing rib roast

Got a couple days in the fridge, cut that off. 1pm in the 200 F oven after searing in olive oil, rub, fresh rosemary and oregano. NOTE: thick rubber gloves like from the rotisserie work affirmatively whilst searing.

Probe thermometer got me 120 to 135 parts, skinny side was 135, popped it out and wrapped the roasting pan with foil - put it on the buffet (beer pong table) and let it rest while the last guest arrived, used some juice with some bullion (forgot the broth) and worked out alright enough.

Overall results were 99% exactly like the 2nd photograph of end results at the top of this post. Pink throughout, pure delight.

Thanks, live long and prosper!

On July 03, 2011 at 11:59 AM, Rrrosenwald (guest) said...

Subject: Raising the temperature of food

If one has a 5 Kilo pork butt with an internal temperature of 69 C in a pit barbeque with a steady temperature of 108 C how could one calculate the length of time to get the pork to an internal temperature of 90.6 C?

Is there a rough way to approximate this?

On July 03, 2011 at 06:11 PM, Dilbert said...

>>Is there a rough way to approximate this?

yes. it's done.

if the pork is at 69'C=152'F internal - it's done.

not sure why one would want to cook pork to an internal temp of 90.6'C=195.1'F - not recommended.

On September 28, 2011 at 08:35 AM, Lee (guest) said...

Subject: Prime Rib

What is the differance between a Prime Ribeye Lip-On 2 x 2 roast and a Prime Rib Roast.
Can I cook them the same way and will the ribeye roast be as good as the Prime Rib.
My wife gets the Ribeye roast from work and we always cut them into steaks.
Thank you for any help
Lee

On October 01, 2011 at 05:39 PM, Dilbert said...

the names of cuts is only sorta semi partially "standard"

so one really must look at the cow and where the cut is coming from.

ye olde rib roast - there's a couple hundred thousand opinions about whether the best meat comes from the large / front - middle - or small / rear part of the roast.

if you look at the roast, depending on trim, it will have several distinct chunks of muscle group(s).

there's a chunk along the spine to the dorsal side often called "chain meat"

the 2-3 major chunks in the rib roast - slice up a rib roast and you'll get a steak often called "Delmonico" or "rib eye"

"lip on" - dunno. potentially refers to the small muscle/fat portion at the very bottom of the rib.

"2x2" = nadda clue. if your butcher can translate the local naming to something more specific, might be able to decipher what it means.

Great site and great instructions! Have used method for years, also with inspiration from Cook's mag. If your 7-rib roast is too big for stove-top searing, preheat oven to 500. When nicely browned (watch closely), REMOVE FROM OVEN and allow oven temp to come down to 200. Then follow the engineer's instructions. I have a very small oven, so I must cook mine well ahead of time to finish turkey, mac and cheese, etc. NO PROBLEM! Let the roast sit until ready to serve. Slice "to order", and reheat quickly in a saute' pan in about 1/2" of au jus. Done properly, only the very outside of slice will turn color and the meat will still be medium rare.
ABOUT AU JUS: My family loves au jus and there never seems to be enough. Take your favorite store-bought beef stock and reduce by 1/3 over medium-low heat with some of the drippings. This will give a rich but not overpowering au jus. Hope these tips help!

On November 23, 2011 at 03:05 PM, wldgrdnr (guest) said...

Subject: how to cook with high and low heat

I have been cooking prime rib for years using an alternate method with a good result, but may try your method this year to avoid a tiny bit of brown edge.

At any rate IF you are cooking the high heat/low heat method it is important to open the oven door, and let the oven cool down (I use 250 usually)...If you JUST lower the oven temp, without opening the door to cool down to 250, your prime will be cooking at the higher heat for quite some time...

so for those who have some guests who like it a little (key word being little as this way mostly comes out med rare throughout, with slightly more cooked on the exterior pieces) but you like yours med rare, I suggest the following: roast for 15 min @ 500, then open oven door until oven is 250 degrees, then put your roast back in and cook 10-15 min/lb @ 250...Let it rest for 20-30 min after coming out of oven so the juices absorb back into the meat.

I think I may give your 200 throughout a shot as just cooking for hubby and myself, we consider it a sacriledge to cook any beef more than med rare....enjoy

On November 28, 2011 at 11:43 AM, Clive (guest) said...

Subject: Love this site

I've experimented with various methods over the years but do find slow roasting produces a more even doneness if this is what you are aiming for. I do tend to panick in the last hour that the meat will not be 'done' at meal time but force myself to trust that it will.
I've been using a compromise (lazy) method the last few times of seasoning the usually 7 to 8 pound roast with garlic, salt and thyme, drizzling with olive oil and convection roasting at 240'F (115'C). I find it is at 135' (58) after 3 to 3 1/2 hours and reaches 140 (60) medium rare after standing covered for 30 minutes. I insert the thermometer mid way in the bake cycle so as to avoid transferring any surface bacteria inside the roast.

On December 18, 2011 at 06:00 PM, Teacherman (guest) said...

Subject: Timing is everything

We've always preferred the term "Slab O Beef", but to each their own. I have used a 250 oven in the past, but will try a 200 one this year. The key to timing is that the larger roasts will require less time per pound. There is no one-size-fits-all approach that will allow you to calculate minutes per pound. It's a sliding scale, so keep notes.

On December 19, 2011 at 02:39 PM, an anonymous reader said...

I like to sear roasts on the barbeque grill (gas), I preheat to max temp,
then sear as wanted, usually about 2 + min per side / area until all sides are seared to desired level. Then transfer to preheated 200 degree oven to finish. The higher heat of the hot grill sears quickly and creates a nice bark. Side benfit is the grill surface is large so any sized roast will fit with all surfaces getting a sear and the smoke from the high heat sear is outside not smoking up the house. A couple of soaked mesquite chips on a piece of foil in the back of the grill can add a nice dimension. ( want it to be very subtle )

On December 20, 2011 at 08:20 PM, meatmanmo (guest) said...

Subject: primers

My wife and I have cooked small and large standing rib roasts for over 20 years during the holidays. By the measure of small, I refer to 7-8 lbs, and by large, 16-18 lbs. One must take into consideration the size of the roast and act timely/accordingly to it's mass. A small roast gives much less leeway as to perfection. A large roast will give everyone at the table much more ability to perfect their slice to their individual taste. I try to have my end result (after resting) no more than 134F. This involves anticipating the rate of climb after rest. The hotter the oven, the higher the climb relative the size. No matter what is said ANYWHERE, if you cook a standing rib to no more than 134F (after rest), you can always have a iron skillet on the stove with some near boiling, properly seasoned au jus sauce, you can always dip the slice into the pan for approximately 15-30 seconds per side and make even the most pink-meated fearful person happy at your table, as they will have a slice that is dripping with flavour and a color to match their palate. As a footnote, I try to purposely undercook my roasts just for the purpose of re-heating another day in a saucepan with hot au jus. This turns out to be a perfect manner in which to re-heat and re-live the enjoyment.

On December 20, 2011 at 11:11 PM, Imbatman (guest) said...

Subject: Convection or Non Convection?

Read just about all of this string, quite a few years of good stuff! Looking forward to attempting the techniques described, and most importantly, choosing 200 degrees fahrenheit for the majority of the cooking process.

My question is above -- should I go in convection mode? Not sure of the pros and/or cons of doing so. Many thanks

On December 21, 2011 at 07:42 AM, Dilbert said...

I don't recommend / use the convection mode - I think the increased air circulation tends to dry the meat.

On December 25, 2011 at 11:11 AM, Jaynie59 (guest) said...

Subject: Merry Christmas!

Another year, another visit to CfE to get the prime rib recipe. I only cook prime rib once a year on Christmas so I always have to come back here to refresh my memory. I follow it to the letter and it always comes out perfect. Just like the recipe says, you get perfectly cooked meat from the bone to the outside.

I wanted to comment about size. It's just me and my daughter so I don't need a large roast, and I don't have a butcher nearby so I rely on the supermarket. I never buy it by size. I learned from watching Julia Child to look at the eye to get it closer to the loin and that's what I look for. Supermarkets don't usually have huge roasts anyway, so I pick the best from what's in the case. I go to the store expecting to spend a lot, but that's OK because it's Christmas. Some years the best one was 4 ribs and I bought that. One year it was a 1 rib roast, but it was absolutely perfect so I bought that. This year I got a 2 rib roast.

No matter what size I get, I cook it according to this recipe and it always comes out perfect. I know some think smaller cuts should be cooked like a steak but I cook it like it's a roast. The only deviation I make from this recipe is that I don't sear it at all. I forgot that step one year and I couldn't tell the difference when it was done so I don't bother with that anymore. It still comes out perfect.

Even though I use supermarket cuts of meat, it still comes out better than what I've had in restaurants because this recipe does exactly what it says it will do: produce an evenly cooked roast that is medium rare from the bone to the outside.

Poor planning has led to a rush job on the 11.5 pound, 5-rib roast. I seasoned the beef the day before. However, I did not have time to let the rib come up to room temp. It has basically gone from the cooler into a 200 degree oven. Since the consensus here is that there is no way to successfully predict how long this will take, I'll update this post with the results. I am going to check the roast in exactly 3.5 hours. I want to pull it from the oven when the internal temp is 125 or so. I wish there was a way to time it so that I knew when to set the table! Dinner may be served anytime between 2:00 pm and 4:30 pm, ugh.

On December 25, 2011 at 03:05 PM, Dilbert said...

pc of graph paper, time vs temp - that'll put a very graphic representation of how fast the meat is coming up to temp.

hope it turns out well!

On December 25, 2011 at 03:16 PM, Jackie (guest) said...

Subject: Thanks!

I have been visiting this site every Easter and Christmas since 2005 for a refresher course on cooking the best prime rib ever! Just wanted to say thanks for your site, your recipes, etc. . . Happy Holidays to you all!!

On December 25, 2011 at 03:58 PM, jimksr (guest) said...

Subject: my 2 cents

What great site. Over 5 years of discussion on one subject, I love it!
The method I use is similar, but just a little weird.

5-6 lb roast (3 rib) into a cast iron dutch oven (approx 11 in across the top) with about 1/2 in of rock salt in the bottom. 6 cloves of garlic (smashed & peeled) directly under the roast & then...fill the pan with rock salt. Yes folks, all the way up leaving only the very top (fat cap) of the roast exposed. 200 degrees F. for around 3-5 hours until done to your liking. Then brush the salt off the roast, let rest & dig in. No, it does not get too salty, the real drawback is that there is no jus to make a gravy with.

This works well for me, because I can take it out when it reaches 110-120 deg & transport it (pan, salt & roast) to another location. The cast iron & salt hold the heat so it finishes cooking on the way.

On December 25, 2011 at 07:39 PM, TonyR (guest) said...

Subject: Christmas Dinner

Merry Christmas! Followed the recipe exactly: seared and pink all the way through; used a boneless cut and it turned out great!

On December 25, 2011 at 08:14 PM, jsmit86 (guest) said...

Subject: 18.77 lb Roast

I have done prime rib using the tips I learned on this site for the last few years. This year I also read the serious eats tip on searing after the initial cook and rest period. While searing first also works pretty well, I think the end sear is best.

I got a beautiful roast from Ream's Elburn Market in Elburn IL

I took the 18.77 lb roast out of the fridge the night before and inserted some garlic slivers, and seasoned with my own rub, salt, garlic powder, pepper, a touch of cumin, and a bit of my BBQ rub.

I covered the roast with the wrapping paper, and a few towels, and let it rest to come up to room temp. The interior of the roast was 42F when I took it out, and was 53F when I was ready to start the roast around noon.

I set the oven at 200F, and roasted until the digital thermometer read 123F.

I covered and rested for about 45 Min while we made pop overs and some other veggies. The internal temp rose to about 128F.

We then cranked up the oven to 500F, and crusted the exterior for about 8 minutes.

Rested again for about 15 min, and Carved a perfectly Medium Rare roast.

All of the roasts I have made came out great, but this was the best. I am sold on the sear last method.

On December 26, 2011 at 12:47 AM, Jim Cooley said...

Dilbert wrote:

pc of graph paper, time vs temp - that'll put a very graphic representation of how fast the meat is coming up to temp.

hope it turns out well!

I've done that and the graph is not a straight line. Starts out flat and then curves up. Toward the final temp, it increases quite quickly.

On December 26, 2011 at 08:51 AM, ppctx (guest) said...

Subject: Low and Slow

This is only my second year of cooking a standing roast but now have a 2-0 record for perfect. This year it was a Kroger bought ~4.5lb, two rib roast, set on a thin wire grate, several inches off a thin aluminum drip pan, tented with aluminum foil most of the time, in the center of a conventional electric oven, targeting and generally hanging around 200F with temps varying from 190F-210F. I vacuum sealed and let it come to temperature in a pot with a little running water. Did not pan sear, just rubbed some rosemary/garlic seasoning all over it. Pulled it out with an internal temp of 127F, temp rose to 130F while broiling a mix of green beans and asparagus (stinky pee). Red almost to the point of looking rare all the way through and TENDER. Me, wife and 4yr old loved it. Surprisingly, there were hardly any drips in the drip pan, if any?

Did a 13lb one from Omaha steaks last year that ended up just a couple degrees warmer. I was so proud of myself that not only did I not mess it up, but it was that beautiful deep pink/red throughout. My dad asked for a pan, being as excited and busy as I was I didn't pay much attention to what he was about to do. He turned the griddle up to high, let it get good and hot, then stuck his half rib serving onto the pan. Not a touch and go, a full on cooked grey throughout :angry: He should have just asked for a cheap sirloin if that's how he wanted it!

I think I will slice some of today’s leftovers thin, lightly vacuum seal and heat in 120F ish water then make some aju sauce and hoagie roll sandwiches. I should have Prime rib more often.

On December 26, 2011 at 04:09 PM, Paul (guest) said...

Subject: Data for 4.7 pound rib roast

This is [u:80c161e6f1]definitely[/u:80c161e6f1] the way to cook a rib roast.

Here is some data for a 4.7 pound, small-end, pasture-raised rib roast.

Prep ...

Ribs cut off, then tied back on after dry rub.
Prior evening liberally dry rub with Mario Batali's fantastic rub recipe: Ground, dry porcini mushrooms make this a "killer".
Put in fridge, uncovered on plate
Removed 9:00 a.m. and set on kitchen counter uncovered
Preheat oven to 200F, using oven thermo to get accurate. (Oven display said 210F.)
Set roast on rack in uncovered ceramic baking dish
Added 3/8" deep of chicken broth to dish (could use beef broth or water)
Inserted probe of high quality digital meat thermometer (cable connection) into center of roast

Mmmmm! Mmmm! Mmmm! PURR-fect medium rare with a wonderful crust from the rub.
A few observations ...

There were a couple of un-reformed "medium" diners. For the first time I used the "1-minute warm in just below boiling jus" method. (Thanks to a tip on this forum.) Very slick! It made the slice look "medium" although it really wasn't cooked significantly more done than the pink meet. Got rave reviews from the "medium" folks!

The porcini rub may be a bit too much flavor for some. In which case, scrape off the rub just before you place the roast in the oven.

For fantastic jus, find the little containers of high-quality paste/gel (not powdered!) base for "glace" at better grocery stores. A $5 container makes a cup of traditional glace. Blend and thin to taste with the drippings from the pan. (The stock or water in the bottom of the pan will have mostly evaporated and kept the drippings from burning.)

Bon apetit!

On December 26, 2011 at 09:20 PM, Paul (guest) said...

Subject: Dem-Glace Gold

FYI ...

The product I mentioned in the previous post is Demi-Glace Gold "Classic French Demi-Glace ... Made with Veal and Beef Stock" by More Than Gourmet. 1.5 oz package was $4.69. Makes about 1 cup.

On December 28, 2011 at 04:19 AM, dv4664 (guest) said...

Subject: rib roast recipe

Awesome recipe thx my xmas dinner came out great!!!!!!!!!!!

On March 04, 2012 at 08:28 PM, MarkG (guest) said...

Subject: Foiled by Imperial vs. Celsius

So, bought a fantastic cut of Canadian Prime Angus Rib Roast. One rib, 1.02 kilos, family of 4. Thought I'd make a nice Sundays roast, invited mom and brother. Found this site, guy up there in the 2006 section added a mustard rub (minced garlic, mustard powder, prepared mustard, chili powder, no onion salt, switched prepared for dijon, added pepercorns). Running late, busy sunday. Got the roast out at 2:00, fine, dinner at 6. Roast on the bbq at 4:30 with olive oil and sea salt and fresh ground pepper, high heat. Sear 3 minutes a side. Looking GREAT! Smells fantastic! Into a roasting pan on a layer of onions, surrounded by potatoes and carrots. Into the oven at 4:30 @200 Fahrenheit. Darn, forgot to put the rub on. Out of oven rub on. Back in oven 5:00. 45 minute check. What the heck? Only 58 degrees? OK times getting late. Oven to 250 Fahrenheit. 30 minute check: 72 degrees. Something is NOT right. Oven too cold? What is going on? Oven to 350, kids are really cranky, wife wondering how much longer. I'm going crazy. 6:50 check: 95 degrees. I'm at a loss, mom and brother had to go. Time to Call in my wife for a second look. "hey, I didn't know you checked temp in Celsius" she says. WHAT! Oh man roast is now at 104, darn. That's just over 200, I hate well done, that's the whole reason for doing it myself and not putting it through my wife's leather making process. Anyways, long story longer, tasted OK, vegetables were good, meat was way overdone.
Lessons learned: when changing batteries in the digital thermometer, don't forget to reset to Fahrenheit to match the oven, or buy next oven with celsius only.
Just thought I'd share after getting all the above advice on my first roast experience.

On March 05, 2012 at 07:58 AM, Dilbert said...

[ouch] my sympathies!

I've done silly things like that - the most aggravating part is all along you have this nagging feeling 'something ain't right . . . '

On April 16, 2012 at 02:04 AM, Denanfer said...

Thanks for the recipe, I'm trying new dishes to cook. and this one caught my attention. tried it a couple of times it was hard to have the perfect crusty effect :angry: any ways still worked out fine :D

On November 24, 2012 at 10:30 AM, Tojorisin (guest) said...

I review this site every year before I cook up a prime rib (I have done 5 large ones so far, a bigger one each time.) I am very thankful to all that have posted as the shared experiences make it less intimidating to tackle cooking an expensive piece of meat! I did a 20lb boneless prime rib roast on my weber genesis silver B gas rotisserie, my largest yet and it was amazing! I only used a single front burner almost on the lowest setting to hit that 220-ish mark and checked temps about once an hour until I started getting close to 130. I let it rest for about 30 minutes while I finished other items and carved the turkey that I had also made. It was a beautiful, even pink from end to end and I could not be happier! Can't wait until I cook the next one.

On November 25, 2012 at 09:19 AM, Canuk Bill (guest) said...

Subject: Bladed or mechanically tenderized cuts

Costco Canada along with some other retailers has recently added a notice to almost all of their beef roasts and steaks stating that they have been mechanically tenderized or 'bladed' and recommends that they be cooked to an internal temperature of 160'F or 71'C. This follows a CBC consumer report on the meat retail industry showing that most cuts are processed in this way and may have surface bacteria transferred to the inside. As a person who had previously thought that cooking the outside of a cut above 160' would make it safe, this is disturbing to say the least. :angry:

On November 26, 2012 at 12:39 AM, IronRinger said...

I also was appalled to learn that Costco was mechanically tenderizing solid muscle beef cuts. Several customers in Edmonton contracted e-coli from consuming grilled Costco steaks, which we had hitherto considered of primo quality and a staple of our summer grilling menus.

From now on, I will be inquiring at all butcher counters if they use this totally unnecessary and unsafe practice, before I purchase. NO WAY do I want to cook steaks or roasts to 160F. I'd hate to have to substitute meatloaf for standing rib roast, but at least it won't be tough if cooked to well done.

On December 19, 2012 at 03:44 PM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: Geat post

I discovered this post several years ago and keep referring back. Thanks for keeping the web site up. This will be my 4th or 5th one. Each one has been perfect med. rare all the way through. This year Costco has "prime" available and I will be getting it to see if there is much difference. Cooking time is pretty spot on for me. Thanks.

On December 24, 2012 at 10:53 AM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: 19-lbs

Like many on this post, I am attempting my first bone-in rib roast for Christmas eve family dinner. Knowing I needed quantity, I bought a 19-lb one and all the info provided on this site have been helpful. 2 questions though: am I to have the oven 225-250 on roast or bake and is it easier to cut the roast in half, pre-cooking, to insure I can deliver med-rare and medium without a hassle? I'm not worried about presentation.

On December 24, 2012 at 11:58 AM, Dilbert said...

I did an office party dinner once for like 40 people - used multiple 10 lb roasts - I think it is a bit easier to manage than one large.

obviously having two roasts would make the medium/medium rare thing much easier - you can simply start one about an hour earlier than the medium rare.

it also depends on the projected quantity of each you may need - i.e. typically the ends of the roast are more medium than m-rare, to a depth of perhaps 3/4-1 inch. however if half the crowd wants medium, you'll need more medium than that.

On December 25, 2012 at 07:34 PM, jsmit86 (guest) said...

Subject: Prime Rib

I have learned a lot from this forum. This is i the third year that I have cooked using the low and slow method.

I got a nice 16lb roast from a local market (Elburn Market in Elburn, IL.)
I prepped the roast yesterday inserting garlic slivers in slits, rubbed with a bit of olive oil, and then salted it well.

I let the roast warm up from about 34 degrees F to about 46F by letting is sit covered in foil and some towels.

At about 12PM, I put it in the oven at 200F for the first 1.5 hours, and then turned the oven down to 190. At about 4:15 PM, the roast hit my target temp of 121F. I covered and let it rest until about 5PM, and then finished it in the oven at 500F.

It came out beautifully. Perfect Med Rare throughout. The crust had a really nice flavor.

I have done the sear first, and the sear last method, and I am sold on the sear last method. It seems to produce more even results, although both methods make a tasty roast.

On December 26, 2012 at 09:55 AM, motorhed said...

Subject: Standing Rib Roasts 2012

BEST EVER RIB ROAST!!!

I did 2 choice 5-rib roasts (bones intact), 9.5 and 9.6 pounds trimmed, respectively. I dry aged them in my second fridge (rarely opened) on a flat rack over a 1/2 sheet pan, covered by a cotton cloth (t-shirt). I changed the shirt every other day; each roast lost ~1#. I covered each with a generous amount of kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper and let them rest on the counter uncovered for 1 hour before roasting. Oven was at 200° (no convention fan), and they roasted for ~5.5 hours. Internal temperature each hour: started at 35, 43, 61, 82, 103, 122, and I pulled them at 128. They cruised to 138° on the countertop over the next 30 minutes. I cut the bones off and served them separately; they were nicely cooked. Beef was medium-rare on the ends and rare in the middle, with a fabulously tasty crust. As tender and juicy as any prime rib I have ever had.

The only rub was that there was little juice in the sheet pan, afterwards. That's what Williams-Sonoma's beef/veal concentrated demi is for.

On January 11, 2013 at 05:46 AM, CristalM (guest) said...

Subject: Rubs, searing, bones, and other thoughts

Traditionally our family does a turkey for almost every holiday, but this last Christmas I felt the need for veriety. I decided to do a Prime Rib. I work at a meat counter and find that the holidays have a cycle around here, Turkeys for Thanksgiving, Prime Rib for Christmas, and Ham for Easter. I wanted to know what the fuss was all about, so I took the plunge.
The Roast: After much debating and arguing (mainly with myself) I decided that a 5 lb roast would be about right for the 5 of us. That's Grandma, Mom, Me, My Husband and His Brother. In eating translation, 2 light eaters, 1 average eater, and 2 healthy young men. In the end we ate all but one steak and the meat off the bones, but they made delicious leftovers. Most people get their roasts "Cut and Tied" meaning that while we process the meat we cut it off the bones and tie it back on. This makes serving so easy as the steaks just lift off the bone... kinda. If you like seasoning between the bones and the meat you can either ask for it cut but not tied and season it yourself, or you can choose from one of the house seasonings to be put on before the bones are tied back on. Due to a bit of a fiasco that happened as they tried to get me my roast I didn't worry about putting seasoning in the middle and I don't think I lost a thing for it. The roast I received in the end was aproximately the 3rd and 4th bone, a bit closer to the chuck end but for marbled because of it, Cut and Tied.
The Rub: Oh the wealth of seasonings and pre-measured rubs and mixes presented to the begining roast cooker. Do your self a favor, don't even concider it. If you want to go "Super simple" then get a house rub and have the butcher season your roast for you; otherwise, be simple! If you can't tick off the ingreedients for your roast rub on one hand you're making it too complicated. After contimplating many recipies and co-workers and customers I found that most rubs come down to either a seasoned Salt Crust or a Herb Rub. While fresher will provide more flavor I tend to use dried because it doesn't start growing (or worse molding) if I don't us it within 2 weeks. The rub I finally picked was one featured on a youtube short (http://youtu.be/ZOnFdyEJEI4), the simplicity of the rub appealed to me especially because my husband was doing all the cooking and I didn't feel that a tricky salt crust was either afordable or in his league. Don't get me wrong, he's an excelent cook, but I'm probably just a bit to particular about my meats. I could go on and on about different reasons I picked my rub, but when it comes right down to it I picked it cause the price was right, we already had all the ingreadients.
Searing and Cooking: I admit, I skip searing. I know, it's supposed to add flavor by... adding something to the party, but I've never been able to identify what. So I take the lasy route and skip searing all together. Maybe when I reach the cooking chapter in my Cooking for Geeks cook book I'll understand it better. For the pan I used a large pot like roasting pan with rack... well I wanted to use the rack to make lifting the roast out easier but I wasn't there to manage the kitchen so the rack was left out in favor of the one provied naturally by the roast, which does not have handles. The Roast was seasoned then put in this pan/pot before anything else was put together. I'm not sure when the roast "could have" gone into the oven, but it didn't go into the oven till all the other parts to dinner were prepped and ready. It was roasted in a 350F oven till my probe thermometer informed us that it had reached 130F inside the roast, then it was left to set under foil for about a half hour. Doneness was perfect, even for my brother in law who askes for "proof that the cow his steak came from is burning in hell". My husband suggested that we should have Prime Rib more oftain, not just for holidays... then learned how much it would have cost us if I hadn't pulled out all the tricks I had and bought it on holiday sale.
Oh, and the dog loved the bone she got. Just remember pet safety and supervise dogs with rib bone (many treats for that matter), they have a chance of splintering and getting sharp pieces lodged in esophguses.

On May 07, 2013 at 01:27 AM, Canuk Bill (guest) said...

Subject: Blade tenderizing in Canada

Health Canada has recently amended their safe cook guidelines for blade tenderized meat and quite properly listed it in the section with ground meats. Blade tenderizing is the norm for almost all retail sources in central Canada.
Is it worth buying tenderized prime rib and then (over)cooking it to 71'C or 160'F?
If we do not follow the new recommendations, at least we know the risk.
** http://www.healthycanadians.gc.ca/eating-nutrition/safety-salubrite/cook-temperatures-cuisson-eng.php

On May 07, 2013 at 03:43 AM, Michael Chu said...

Over the years I've modified how I cook my standing rib roasts slightly. I use a thermocouple and data logger these days and actually cycle my oven on (170F is the lowest it goes) and off maintaining a core roast temperature of 130F-135F depending on desired level of doneness. At 130F, holding the roast temperature for 2 hours is sufficient to pasteurize it. At 135F, 1 hour will pasteurize. At 140F, only 30 min is needed. If you are unable to get an intact roast and only have access to a tenderized (where someone other than you has jabbed it full of slits/holes) roast, then I highly recommend attempting to pasteurize the roast before serving to others.

On May 07, 2013 at 08:29 AM, Canuk bill (guest) said...

Subject: safe cooking temps

Michael Chu wrote:

Over the years I've modified how I cook my standing rib roasts slightly. I use a thermocouple and data logger these days and actually cycle my oven on (170F is the lowest it goes) and off maintaining a core roast temperature of 130F-135F depending on desired level of doneness. At 130F, holding the roast temperature for 2 hours is sufficient to pasteurize it. At 135F, 1 hour will pasteurize. At 140F, only 30 min is needed. If you are unable to get an intact roast and only have access to a tenderized (where someone other than you has jabbed it full of slits/holes) roast, then I highly recommend attempting to pasteurize the roast before serving to others.

This is in line with sous vide cooking methods - 55 °C (131 °F) to 60 °C (140 °F) so makes a lot of sense. Government regulations do not take into account longer cooking times so err on the side of safety.

On May 08, 2013 at 11:45 AM, IronRinger said...

The only meat shop where I've seen "blade tenderized" meat is Costco. All their beef, with the exception of ground and tenderloin are treated this way, so ground and tenderloin are the only beef cuts I'll buy there. At least they are required to label such treated meat now. Last year, when there was a major e-coli issue at Costco's main Canadian supplier, several folks got sick from eating their steaks. I argue with DH constantly about this - he is prepared to risk eating Costco steaks med-rare, saying the hygiene problem at the supplier has been fixed and could never happen again. Yeah....right....

We're currently trying out local small butchers.

On May 08, 2013 at 12:38 PM, Dilbert said...

>>We're currently trying out local small butchers.

that's the best bet imho. mechanically tenderizing a cut only indicates - to me - it's not really a top quality cut. like seriously, if it was a quality cut to begin with - what's the point?

USDA Choice or Prime grades should not require artificial "tenderizing" - Canada has a different grading 'system' - but that is of zero meaning - either the cut is of a decent quality in terms of marbling / fat or it's a cheap substitute for 'the real thing'

to the best of my knowledge, there is no option in USA to take a "Utility" grade cut of meat, subject it to mechanical tenderizing, then label it "Choice / Prime" etc. the "labeled grade" on a chunk of meat must stem from a USDA inspection/grading process - which is not "free" for suppliers. the "USDA inspection" is free, the "USDA grading" is not free. falsifying the "grade" in USA based on mechanical treatment is an actionable offense.

Canada may be different, no clue.

On May 08, 2013 at 03:23 PM, IronRinger said...

Dilbert wrote:

....Canada has a different grading 'system' - but that is of zero meaning - either the cut is of a decent quality in terms of marbling / fat or it's a cheap substitute for 'the real thing'....

Exactly! In Canada, the grades are A, AA, and AAA, with the quality/tenderness improving with the number of As on the label. AAA is supposed to be the primo grade, although I've seen a few high end restaurants describing their meat as AAAA. Supermarket beef is usually AA, and the cheapo butchers, like where my "value conscious" brother shops sell A. As in the USA, grading is done just after slaughter, never at the retail level.

Costco's beef is all AAA, and I just don't see why they need to adulterate it. BTW, I've heard that "blade tenderizing" is more common in the USA than here. I had never heard of the process before the afore mentioned e-coli situation, which triggered the requirement for all meat so treated to be labeled.

On May 08, 2013 at 04:45 PM, Dilbert said...

according to this:
http://www.canadabeef.ca/us/en/quality/Standards/default.aspx

Canada grades A, AA, AAA, Prime - (for youthful cattle, old cows have more grades....)
one could suspect quad-A (AAAA) is an alternate description for Prime, but who knows.

in the US it is not technical impossible to grade 'at the retail level' but it is highly impractical / expensive. under Federal US law, _only_ USDA Inspectors can assign a grading. there is no such thing as 'supplier grading' - slaughter houses must _pay_ for the services of a USDA Inspector to grade their meat / cuts / primals.

then - in USA,,, there's a whole raft of "label laws" - which very explicitly detail what words / phrases can be used on (in this case) meat labels.

I really doubt that Canadian law permits a meat vendor to take an A graded meat, punch it full of holes to make it more tender, and then label it AA or AAA or Prime/AAAA.

I've not seen that jaccarded product around here - but my bet: it is not illegal to shred a roast and put it on the shelf for sale with a "super tender" label, omitting any mention of an actual USDA grade.

showing the USDA grade is actually _not_ required in USA. what is not legal is labeling / selling meat as a _higher / better_ grade than it is known to be. markets could put USDA Prime on the shelf as "Roast comma beef" and that's not a problem. however, put a chunk/slice/portion of a primal that (a) has not been graded or graded less than "Choice / Prime" in a package labelled Choice / Prime will land somebody in jail. well, if we could get the bureaucrats off their donkey.....

On July 09, 2013 at 05:32 AM, TeflonTaylor (guest) said...

Subject: slow cooked rib roast (and yorkies)

Great site!

My best way to SLOW cook a rib roast is thus:

I use a 2 or 1 rib. Scale up by splitting a 7 rib into twos and a one, unless you wish to experiment. Feel free but it may work out costly!

25 hours before you want to eat (for the 2-rib; the single rib does better in about 18 hours)

Put the oven on 55-60 Deg C ; 140 Deg F, best done in an oven with NO FAN.

Put the joint in a roasting tin, I prefer to stand it up if it's a 2, a single you would have to lay down.

Roast for 24 hours. If you want it for lunch the next day put it on just before you go to bed as it will stand an hour easily without losing heat, if you only carve it when you want to serve.

If it has a good layer of fat, and is a good quality cut, you should get good tasty umami-packed jelly stock in the bottom of the pan too.

When it's finished, whack the oven up to it's max - 250 C for me,

and put some dripping into the tins - I use muffin trays and beef dripping and put the tin in the oven to heat up with the oven. You want that dripping to be smoking!

Whisk four eggs into three large serving spoons (this is my tablespoon, it was my grandmother's and is most definitely more than 25 ml but I do know that one heaped of flour is one ounce, and one rounded of sugar is one ounce and never need to follow recipes) of plain all purpose flour, with no raising agents in. Beat half to death and then add milk still beating until it is like double cream.

This is a batter mix to make the yorkshire puds.

When the oven is up to temp, take out the tray carefully, it's very hot, and pour the batter into the tin. The amount above will make 12. Use a jug is best.

Put the tray back in the oven, and cook for 10 minutes at high temp THEN OPEN THE DOOR (this lets out excess steam) and drop the temp to 200 C, 400 F, and cook for another 20 mins. It works if you don't open the door but not as well, and if you don't turn it down they will burn.

Meanwhile, you have the veg cooking, I hope. And you add a tablespoon of that flour again to the juices left in the pan, and stir, then add veg water or stock to this and cook gently to make fab gravy.

Time to carve.

50-60 Deg C, 140F sets the protein in the meat. Overcooked beef (or lamb, or liver) is a sin of the highest order. 50 Deg will leave the beef in a 2 rib certainly rare, and leaves option to recook what's left.

I tried a fan oven once and it cooked in shorter time but wasn't as good and there were no juices left to make gravy.

There are folk out there who say you should let the batter for Yorkshire pud stand - I say there is no need.

Traditionally, the Yorkshire pud was cooked below the roast, to gather the drips, and was eaten before the meat to fill you up a bit so you didn't mind less meat. This would have been truly stodgy, very filling, and delicious if you do it under chicken. VERY calorie rich but hey, this is food!

On December 20, 2013 at 04:38 PM, brighteyes5423 (guest) said...

Subject: rib roast ?

I want to prepare a standing rib roast for Christmas and have a recipe, slightly different from all I have read on here. It calls for 450F for 15 minutes, reducing to 325F until roast reaches 130Ffor rare or 145 for medium. (cooking time on a 6-8 lb roast). Any suggestions or comments?

On December 20, 2013 at 05:02 PM, Michael Chu said...

Subject: Re: rib roast ?

brighteyes5423 wrote:

I want to prepare a standing rib roast for Christmas and have a recipe, slightly different from all I have read on here. It calls for 450F for 15 minutes, reducing to 325F until roast reaches 130Ffor rare or 145 for medium. (cooking time on a 6-8 lb roast). Any suggestions or comments?

It won't come out as good, but it should suffice if you prefer to follow that recipe.

On December 20, 2013 at 10:25 PM, CaesarV (guest) said...

Subject: Costco

So I just bought a Costco vacuum-packed USDA Choice rib roast (21 lbs.) There was no mention of the word "tenderized" or "bladed" anywhere on the package and it only had the standard, generic food safety label.

In any case, this will be my 3rd year of following this recipe. Previous years have been a bit too rare so I will take it out when the temp is about 5 deg higher this time.

Three questions:
1. Does Costco still tenderize the meat, and if so, must it be labeled as such? FYI, I am in California in case the rules are different from state to state.

2. Is there any general consensus as to when the roast should be seared; at the beginning or at the end of the cooking time?

3. I have a convection oven. Should convection be on or off...or does it just not matter much?

On December 21, 2013 at 07:51 AM, Dilbert said...

USDA regs require labeling for "injected" stuff - not sure about plain old mechanical-no-injection. one wonders why Costco would blade a choice cut - lesser grades I can understand.

see
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/newsroom/news-releases-statements-transcripts/news-release-archives-by-year/archive/2013/NR-060613-01

as of June 2013 it appears "just" mechanically tenderized need not be labeled

I do mine convection off.

as to searing for crust before / after, that's always a large debate.
I prefer to do it at the end based on the WYSIWYG principle. done at the start it can change during cooking.

On December 22, 2013 at 12:12 PM, daveo (guest) said...

Subject: long end 11 pound choice standing rib roast

I am cooking 11 lb. rib roast on Christmas eve. We leave house at 315 for church and will be back at aprox. 530 and will eat at 600. Is there a method of cooking this roast that will allow me to turn oven off for 2 hours when I leave house without overcooking? I am dry aging for aprox. 3 1/2, so weight will be less after trimming.
Thank you,
Dave O

On December 22, 2013 at 04:55 PM, Dilbert said...

if you insist on turning the oven off while you're out . . . .

there are methods where the roast goes in a hot preheated oven for x minutes, turn the oven off and allow to stand for y hours.

some variations turn the oven back on toward the end.

never done it that way so no can provide any clues - but they're all labeled as "fool proof"

regardless, home at 5:30 and sit down at 6:00 could be a bit ambitious for the roast and all the rest of the fixings, unless it all being served cold.

On December 23, 2013 at 08:44 PM, Canuk Bill (guest) said...

Subject: Costco (Canada)

The bulk vac packed roasts in Costco Canada are not tenderized. Tenderizing is usually done when the beef is cut down into retail portions and repacked before sale.
Most Canadian retailers are still blade tenderizing their beef roasts and steaks according to a follow-up episode of CBC Marketplace and very few are following Health-Canada's guideline that they label their products as such. Costco Canada is one of those few retailers complying with the guideline although they have changed from a separate red printed label to an inconspicuous note on the price tag advising to cook to medium/well.
Because retailers in general are not complying with the voluntary requirements, Health Canada is expected to make labeling mandatory in 2014.
US consumers may want to ask their butcher if they tenderize although if the meat is processed and packed before hitting the store, the staff would not necessarily know this.
Because of this problem I have switched to a local family butcher who does not tenderize roasts and will supply non-tenderized steaks on request. I much prefer to pay a small premium to be guaranteed that cooking to medium rare will not risk food poisoning.

On December 24, 2013 at 01:58 PM, Jim Cooley said...

Thanks, Canuck.

I shop at Costco #1 right here in Seattle and will inquire next time I go down.

Today is not such a good day -- Chrstmas Eve, lol.

On December 26, 2013 at 11:31 PM, RussW (guest) said...

Subject: Another BBQ data point

I cooked an exquisite 12.5lb standing rib roast yesterday, cooked to perfection using some oh the helpful tips on this page/thread; thanks everyone! But my approach differed a bit and I thought I would share to help others who want to use a BBQ and get the additional flavor that smoking will provide. I used a standard kettle style BBQ, nothing special except for some snap in charcoal holders to keep the coals at the sides of the kettle. I used about 5lbs of Jack Daniels whiskey barrel charcoal, and smoking chips for flavor, but any slow burning charcoal/chip combo will work. Don't use Kingsford it is too fast/hot.

I started by searing the roast while the coals were hot. Placed it over the charcoal one one side of the kettle, covered for 5 mins then rolled it over to the opposite side foe another 5 mins. Heavy duty rubber gloves are essential for moving the roast around. The grill was a tad too hot, the strings holding the rib rack to the roast burned through. I moved the roast to the center of the BBQ, got a pan and put new strings across it then pulled the roast off the grill, placed it in the pan and re-tied it. While I was doing this I closed the vents on the grill so the charcoal would slow down. After about 10 minutes I put the roast back on the grill in the center between the charcoal so it would be indirectly heated. I inserted the dual temperature digital thermometer probe, added wet wood chips and the wood blocks that come with the charcoal and covered with the vents 1/2 open. The thermometer registered 55F on the meat and went up to about 345F inside the grill. I closed the vents further and the temp lowered to 325.

After about two hours the thermometer was reading in the low 90's. This was about an hour earlier than I planned; the roast would be finished too early. So after another 1/2 hour the thermometer read 110F so I removed it from the grill so we could finish making the dinner. I covered it loosely with foil and let it sit on the kitchen counter with the temp probe still in. In the 45 minutes it rested, the temp went up from 110F to 133F !! At that point we were ready to eat so I sliced it up and the meat was perfectly medium rare, and only about 1/4" of browned meat at the surface. But that outer section was so very flavorful it easily makes up for the little bit of overcooking.

In Summary:

Use about 5 lbs of charcoal in a kettle style BBQ. Separate the coals into two piles on the sides so the meat is indirectly heated.

Sear the meat either in the oven at 500f for 15 mins or on the grill, but slow the coals down first or the string will burn.

Add wet wood chips after searing.

Roast at a grill temp of 325F for two hours, checking regularly and adjusting the vents to keep the temperature correct. Use a dual temp thermometer to measure grill temp and meat temp.

When temp reaches 110F, remove and cover with foil. Let rest until it reaches the desired temp then slice and enjoy! It will take about 45 mins for it to reach the 130's.

On January 01, 2014 at 08:59 AM, Y&dotte (guest) said...

Subject: Large Rib Roasts

Thanks for posting this wonderful cooking method. I used this for a 9 lb Delmonico roast this past year for Christmas Dinner.
I seared the roast on a skillet before placing in the oven
Oven was set at 200 degrees F

I checked the roast at 4 hours, and it had already sailed past medium rare (it was at 128 degrees), so I took it out immediately.

I was cooking at someone elses's house, using their instant read thermometer, so I was nervous - I poked at the roast to see how loose it felt, and it felt RARE. Even more nervous, but I had to go with common sense and my equipment, so I just let it rest. When I sliced into it, that decision proved sound. The roast was in fact between medium rare and medium, and while it was a little further cooked than I wanted it, it was fabulously tender and cooked EVENLY from center to edge.

So, a couple of observations:

[ul]The linear approach to extending cooking times for larger roasts may not be completely valid - start checking your roast at 3-3 1/2 hours.
[ul]The roast will feel a LOT looser than it actually is.

On January 01, 2014 at 09:12 AM, an anonymous reader said...

Subject: Re: rib roast ?

brighteyes5423 wrote:

I want to prepare a standing rib roast for Christmas and have a recipe, slightly different from all I have read on here. It calls for 450F for 15 minutes, reducing to 325F until roast reaches 130Ffor rare or 145 for medium. (cooking time on a 6-8 lb roast). Any suggestions or comments?

Sorry this is a little late for Christmas this year, but I have used the method you posted for years, and just this year used the method we're reading above on Cooking for Engineers.

The method you posted is called "Oven Searing", and is a widely used method. These are the instructions you will get from your butcher, and this method is a standard in restaurants.

One difference you will notice when Oven Searing is the 'doneness' at the edge of your roast. Oven searing will create a 1/2" to 1" "edge" on your roast that is cooked further than the center of the roast, and more dry. It also has the potential to FILL your house with smoke and have the beef fat hanging in globules that will scent the air in your home for days.

It takes 15 minutes at high oven temperature to sear the outside edge of the roast. You have to then take it out of the oven to stop the cooking process while the oven cools down to roasting temperature. This is easily accomplished in a restaurant where you can have two ovens sitting at different temps, and an industrial ventilation system. It still hard cooks the edge of the roast, though.

The method posted here uses Pan Searing. In reality, searing simply creates a crust on the outside of the meat. To me, that is essential for this roast. Doing it in a pan before placing it in the oven allows you to sear the meat with direct heat, allowing a crust to form without applying enough heat to begin to cook the rest of the roast. Pan searing gives you more freedom in creating the crust the way you want it, and also gives you that wonderful center-to-edge doneness.

The roast that I pan-seared this year was much more tender and more pleasant to look at than those I have done in the past.

Made this for Christmas last year and have been looking forward to doing it again ever since! Cooked perfectly medium rare, all the way through.

On December 25, 2014 at 07:07 PM, The Secret Ingredient (guest) said...

Subject: Royal Chemical Society's Standards for Yorkshire Pudding

Read it and weep. http://www.rsc.org/aboutus/news/pressreleases/2008/perfectyorkshire.asp

Yorkshire pudding must be four inches tall, chemists rule

12 November 2008

A Yorkshire pudding isn't a Yorkshire pudding if it is less than four inches tall, says the Royal Society of Chemistry.
The Society has ruled on the acceptable dimensions of the Yorkshire pudding and is now issuing the definitive recipe.
The judgement followed an enquiry from an Englishman living in the Rockies in the USA who emailed the RSC seeking scientific advice on the chemistry of the dish following a string of kitchen flops.
Ian Lyness had contacted the RSC to get an explanation for why his attempts at cooking traditional Yorkshire puddings in Colorado had gone flat.
In other parts of the USA Mr Lyness had successfully produced puffy, towering puddings but in the high country he had low results.
The RSC is now checking with fellow scientists to see if cooking the famed dish in a mountain climate would lead to pressure problems.
The society, which has thousands of members working in the foods and drinks industries, including top chef Heston Blumenthal, used the query to ascertain the correct way to prepare a Yorkshire pudding, as it will soon launch a food theme for coming year.
Calls to, and from, various parts of the UK led the Royal Society of Chemistry to conclude that for a Yorkshire pudding to be judged successful it had to be no less than four inches (10 cms) in height.
Chemical scientist and author John Emsley, of Yorkshire, claimed that people not from that county rarely produced worthy Yorkshire puddings.
"It's in the blood and instinct of people born and raised there," said Dr Emsley.
"You can always tell from the look and taste if the cook has the right touch and it is almost pitiful to observe the stuff that comes from some southern ovens - flat, pale and soggy much of the time."
Former Cambridge academic Dr Emsley added: "I have seen many grim results from people who have tried to get their Yorkshires to rise. They frequently made gross errors. After all, cooking is chemistry in the kitchen and one has to have the correct formula, equipment and procedures. To translate the ingredients into chemical terms, these are carbohydrate + H2O + protein + NaCl + lipids."
"Some amateurs even place the batter in the fridge first. What kind of foolish act is that?"
The RSC invited Dr Emsley to define Yorkshire pudding, by delving into the lore of his home county to produce the definitive recipe.
"It is wonderful as a starter and main course, as we all know," he said. "However, we have lost sight of it as a superb dessert to follow the main meal and we should aspire to bring it back again as a genuine pudding after many years absence."
Next year the RSC will, as one of the lighter parts of its food campaigning, produce a leaflet on the way to make the ideal 10cm Yorkshire pudding and will push for its renaissance as a dessert.
Ian Lyness said from his home in Boulder: "I use batter mix that I pick up on my trips back to Blighty and my mum's old Pyrex dish. Perhaps the secret is to make them as she, as a true Yorkshirewoman, did. I try to follow in her steps. I do not go for the silly little ones on the plate with everything else, but a traditional, big long pudding which she always served as a separate first course with gravy before the roast beef, lamb or whatever. Coleman's English mustard is also essential accompaniment, I find. But I have been struggling badly here. On Sundays from my kitchen window here I can enjoy the sight of rearing snow-capped mountains but on my plate there are apologetic little hillocks."
This, below, is the official recipe and the Royal Society of Chemistry would be pleased to supply more details if necessary.
The Royal Society of Chemistry Yorkshire Pudding
Ingredients
Tablespoon and a half of plain flour
1 egg
Half milk, half water to make a thin batter
Half a teaspoon of salt.
Method
Put flour in a bowl, make a well in the middle, add the egg, stir until the two are combined then start gradually adding the milk and water combining as you go.
Add the liquid until the batter is a smooth and thin consistency.
Stir in half teaspoon of salt and leave to stand for 10 minutes
Put beef dripping into Yorkshire pudding tins or into one large tin but don't use too much fat.
Put into hot oven until the fat starts to smoke.
Give the batter a final stir and pour into the tin or tins.
Place in hot oven until well risen - should take 10 to 15 minutes.
Serve
Always serve as a separate course before the main meal and use the best gravy made from the juices of the roast joint. Yorkshire housewives served Yorkshire pudding before the meal so that they would eat less of the more expensive main course.
NB: When the batter is made it must not be placed in the fridge but be kept at room temperature

On December 26, 2014 at 05:47 PM, Jim Cooley said...

By Jove, I think they've got it down just about right.

A HOT oven, a HOT dish, and batter at room temp.
None of these fancy individual puddings, either.

On December 29, 2014 at 01:50 PM, tammyvible (guest) said...

Subject: christmas roast

Thank you so much you have saved all my effort, worry and money for Holidays for many years to come! I used 225' for 3.5hrs 11lb roast and all i can say is PERFECTION!!! And I would even go beyond that and say this recipe/method can be used for most cuts and roasts for any occasion. I cant thank you enough for your time and effort to do this for us common folk! Our hard earned money will not go to waste because of our ignorance!!! God Bless you and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! :)
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